(env 01300100)-three jewels and five precepts of buddhism

By The Venerable Elder THICH THONG LAC

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THREE JEWELS AND FIVE

PRECEPTS OF BUDDHISM

BY THE VENERABLE ELDER

THICH THONG LAC

Translated from Vietnamese into English

by

Tam Nhu

PUBLISHED IN VIETNAMESE BY THE PUBLISHER OF RELIGION 2012

THREE JEWELS AND FIVE PRECEPTS OF BUDDHISM

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[The translator is a student of Buddhism and has made her best to carry out this translation work to support those who wish to learn Buddhism but could not read the book in Vietnamese. However, there would be areas of the work where correction or improvement may be needed. There have been helpful supports from many enthusiastic and kindhearted friends in this regards. Further constructive comments and recommendations are most welcomed to make the work better.]


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PREFACE If you wish to follow a spiritual set of

beliefs, you would need to research and

understand it thoroughly. If it is

indeed the truth of humanity, then you

can have faith and live your life in

accordance with its teachings.

Otherwise, if a religion1 builds up

metaphysical world and takes beliefs

1 [translator] The original Vietnamese word of the

Venerable Elder Thich Thong Lac is “tôn giáo” and its literal English translation is "religion". This word will be used several times in the whole book in two different ways: (1) religion as a set of beliefs and worship (e.g. of a superhuman controlling power, God or gods etc) and (2) religion as a spiritual path including practical psycho-ethical aspects with methods for people to practice to overcome sufferings.


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in monotheism or polytheism, then it

can be illusionary, unpractical, and

less concrete; you should reconsider so

as not to take a premature decision. It

would not only bring no benefit to your

life, but also infuse superstitious,

abstract and backward thoughts to

your mind and make you become a

blind, fanatic, superstitious, backward

follower.

As such, if you want to follow

Buddhism, you need to really

understand:


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1. Who is Buddha?

2. What is Dharma?

3. Who is Sangha?

You should not close your eyes and

take belief, instead, be selective so that

your pure soul and mind shall not be

polluted by the illusions of the falsified

religious thoughts that can ruin your

entire life.

So when you want to take refuge in the

Three Jewels and Five Precepts in

order to become a Buddhist disciple,


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you need to study the Buddhism

thoroughly.

In your research of Buddhism, if you

only read the expanded canons, little

could you understand the Buddhism.

In your research of Buddhism, if you

just go to pogodas listening to the

teachings there and thus have beliefs to

take refuge in the Three Jewels, this is

not a right approach! Carelessness may

lead you to miscreance which is very

difficult to be later unrooted and thus


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resulting in tremendous inner conflicts

and distress for you.

Before listening to the teachings of the

religion that you consider to follow,

you should find a Master, not one with

a Master’s degree but one who has

been following strict moral principles

and never violated even a minimal

precept throughout his entire religious

life. Such a Master is the fully

awakened one who will be able to

guide your Buddhism study in a correct

way. And once the religion that you


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select is in accordance with your

heartfelt wishes, it shall bring

practical benefits to you in your life

journey to your true religion.

With all respects

The Venerable Elder Thich Thong Lac


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PART 1: TAKING REFUGE

IN THE THREE JEWELS

Before taking refuge in the Three Jewels,

you need to understand what it means.

There are two parts of this expression:

1. Take refuge

2. The Three Jewels

First of all, what does the term “take

refuge” [Vietnamese: “Quy Y”] mean?

This means “to come back to rely on”.

The word comes from the Sanskrit word

“Namah”.

People rely on their parents. They rely on

their parents for many things to grow up

- food and shelter, education and support


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in their business, weddings and other

events in life. However, other than those,

they would not be able to rely on their

parents. For example, when they get sick,

their parents cannot bear the sickness for

them; or when they suffer from anger,

hate or sadness, their parents cannot

remove such suffering for them. Or when

they die, their parents also cannot

substitute them. Therefore, there are

many aspects that people cannot rely on

their parents.

As such, you look for a refuge to be

sheltered from all the sufferings which

neither your parents nor any of your close

ones can help you with.


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As each human being would have his or

her own sorrows, you could not rely on

anyone else to escape your sufferings,

you thus take refuge in the Three Jewels.

By relying on the Three Jewels, you are

free from sufferings, i.e. you take control

of your life, aging, sickness and death and

terminate the reincarnation.

Now is the second term – “Three Jewels”.

What are the Three Jewels that you can

rely on and be free from sufferings?

The Three Jewels are:

1. The Buddha

2. The Dharma

3. The Sangha

***


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FIRST – THE BUDDHA

So who is the Buddha?

The Buddha2 is a human being with flesh

and bones who was born by his parents in

an ordinary way like us and was brought

up with milk, porridge, rice and food.

When he grew up, he got married and

had a child similar to others. He also had

sorrows due to sickness, anger, sadness

etc. Particularly after his visit to the four

2 [translator] “…the Buddha or ‘Awakened One’…was

Siddhattha Gotama (Sanskrit: Siddhārtha Gautama), Sakyamuni, the ‘sage of the Sakya people’….lived and flourished during the fifth century BCE in eastern India and died some time around 400 BCE”. Source: Sayings of the Buddha, New translations by Rupert Gethin from the Pali Nikayas, Oxford World’s Classic, Oxford University Press, 2008


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gates of the city, he saw the four scenes

of sufferings of a human life:

1. The first scene is of an old man

walking difficultly in tremble with a

stick.

2. The second scene is of a sick person

crying in pains.

3. The third scene is of a dead person

whose relatives were sobbing in

deep sorrows.

4. The forth scene is of an ascetic

walking peacefully and calmly on

his way for food.

Seeing these four scenes and the

sufferings of a human life, he thought: "I

will have to experience these same


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sufferings." No one could escape these

sufferings due to the law of cause and

effect; therefore, he decided to let go of

the worldly life and accepted an ascetic

life to find a practicing method for

liberation and master the four sufferings

of a human life (living, aging, sickness,

death). He has achieved such liberation.

He has attained the truth of humanity.

And so his first discourse to the five

ascetics (Kondañña, Vappa, Bhaddiya,

Mahanāma, and Assaji) is the Four Noble

Truths.

Buddhism was born with these four

truths offering mankind an education

program to equip human beings with a


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sufficient moral foundation, which is

based on the causality law, having human

being as its core, and helping people to

live without creating sufferings to one’s

self and others.

Based on the four truths, he has

mastered his living, aging, sickness and

death and put an end to rebirth. We are

also human beings like him and were

born by our parents similar to him; he was

successful in his practice for liberation

from the suffering circle, then we can also

do that! Whatever he could do, we can do

the same. He is a human being, we are

also human beings. With such strong


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belief in human beings, there is nothing

that we cannot succeed, isn’t there?

We have belief that the Buddha was a

human being, he was not born as a saint

or bodhisattva etc. coming from outside

of this world. If he were born as a saint

reincarnated to this world from some

other worlds as described in the

expanded canons e.g. when he was born,

he walked seven steps on seven lotuses

with one arm pointed up and the other

arm pointed down saying “In the whole

sky and land, I am the unique”, then he

must have already been an enlightened

one who was obviously different from

human beings and came here to assist


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and help us, then we could not become

like him through practice.

The truth is not that. Expanded canons

often tell legends of deification of the

Buddha. How someone who had been

born as saint had to go through six years

of extreme austerity due to following

heretic teachings. It is obvious that there

is exaggeration in these stories which has

invented an imaginary religious leader.

During the whole six years, he could not

see the right and not right methods;

therefore, he had to undergo

considerable studies and practice of

other schools rather than his own.


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After six years of extreme austerity and

heretic practice, he nearly died and was

described in the canons as “when the

Buddha was in extreme austerity he ate

very little, and thus he looked like a

skeleton with skin, and if someone

touched his stomach the person would

also touch his backbone”. Even this

description is an exaggeration as if it

were true then he had been dead.

We know that the Buddha performed

utmost austerity but it was not as

extreme as above mentioned by the

Patriarchs who had altered the texts. He

was a brilliant and healthy person with

extraordinary will in his practice.


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After six years of extreme austerity, he

could not find the way to liberation, as

such he renounced all existing methods

of other sects and schools to create his

own method, and he found the truth, a

true path to liberation. Because of his

compassion to living beings, he gave us

his teachings.

So the Buddha was actually a human

being like us and not from Tusita heaven.

Thanks to this truth, we believe that we –

human beings – can attain this liberation.

As such, no one can make us change our

belief that the Buddha was actually a

human being. Therefore, if there is


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someone coming from other worlds to

teach us, we would not follow such

person.

Reading the world history, we are

confident that in this planet there was a

real person from India who took ascetic

life after renouncing his throne, fame and

wealth, his wife and son and later

attained full enlightenment as Buddha.

The following generations respected him

and created a religion after his name –

Buddhism, but this is not his intention. In

Buddhism, there is no Saint, Creator,

Almighty, Saviour and those following

Buddhism stand on their own feet to save


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themselves instead of relying on other

powers.

Nowadays there are Buddhist sects full of

other powers and heavenly authority

which are impractical and make people

lose trust due to their superstitious and

begging nature. Therefore, we need to

return to the self-reliant root of original

and righteous Buddhism, which means to

return to the Sakyamuni Buddha. To

return to the Sakyamuni Buddha is to

take refuge in the Buddha.

Today you have understood which

Buddha you chose to take refuge in.

Apart from the Sakyamuni Buddha, there


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is no other Buddha that you should take

refuge in. So now join your hands

together in front of you, turn yourself

toward the Buddha statue and in silence

make your vow to take refuge in Him and

then make your bow to Him once.

***


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SECOND – THE DHARMA

So what is the Dharma?

Dharma is the teachings of the Buddha

and his experience in his practice to attain

full enlightenment to teach human

beings to reach the same result. So why

his Dharma is a shelter for us to be free

from sufferings?

Is the dharma the chanting of Amitabha?

Or the zen meditation without any

positive or negative thought? Or Hua

Tou, Koan? Or mantra, or to exorcize by

clasping hands, or reciting, or bowing and

chanting Buddha’s name in penitence?


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No! The Buddha did not teach us the

above methods, instead, he taught us the

Four Right Efforts i.e. to prevent and

eliminate the evilness, to start and

develop the goodness. His method is very

practical, he taught: “When my mind is

greedy I know my mind is greedy, when

my mind is not greedy I know my mind is

not greedy”. Craving is an evilness which

bring sufferings for self, for other people,

for both. Once we know something is

evilness, we will immediately

exterminate it in our mind. When we take

refuge in the Dharma, our mind is free

from sorrows. Relying on parents cannot


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free us from sufferings, only by relying on

Dharma could we get rid of sufferings.

When our sick bodies ache, no matter

what diseases in our bodies, by following

the Buddha’s method the sickness will be

put to an end and there would be no more

ache (Observe the body on the body to

overcome sufferings).

Example: when we have headache, we

would gather our mind to focus on the

breath and stay with the breath. And how

do we stay with the breath?

First of all, we gather our mind to focus

on the breath: “Inhale I know I’m

breathing in, exhale I know I’m breathing

out”. With right mindfulness of the


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breath, we create a thought for the mind:

“With calm and still body operation, I know

I’m breathing in; with calm and still body

operation, I know I’m breathing out”.

When the mind rests peacefully in the

breath, the headache disappears. Relying

on parents could not help us to overcome

headache, only by relying on the method

to prevent and eliminate the evilness can

we overcome our sickness. As such, by

taking refuge in Buddha’s method we

could master the four sufferings of

human life: living, aging, sickness, and

death; there is no other method than this

for us to rely on to go beyond sufferings.


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The method to master the sufferings is so

beneficial, it is called the moral

foundation which bases itself on the

cause-and-effect law and considers

mankind as its core for development, and

teaches people living without creating

sufferings for themselves and others; as

the method brings so much benefits to

people’s life and society, it deserves its

name as Dharma Jewel.

Such a beneficial method is worth taking

refuge in, isn’t it? Taking refuge in the

Buddha alone is not enough for a

complete liberation, so we also need to

take refuge in the Dharma.

***


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THIRD – THE SANGHA

So what is the Sangha?

Sangha is Buddhist monks who have

practiced and attained the true

enlightenment, living like the Buddha

and abiding by full principles without any

tiny violation, and are the bright

examples of right conducts and virtues

for people to follow.

Sangha is a Holy monk who heightens

the virtuous conducts of Buddhism and is

the bright example for people to follow

and practice Buddhism.

Therefore, it is not easy to find a Holy

monk who has attained true


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enlightenment and is so rare, so hard to

find and meet nowadays. Once you find

such a person, you should take refuge in

the person, this means to take refuge in

the Jewel of Sangha.

How to choose a Holy Monk? To choose a

holy monk is to choose one who shaved

his hair and beard, putting on the Kasaya

(monk’s robe), leaving home, living

without family and houses, whose mind

is as white as the seashell and as open as

the space, and always feel satisfied with

basic material conditions.

In our life, if we could find such a Holy

monk, we should follow his example as a

torch light to show us the way.


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It’s not easy to find the Jewel of Sangha.

It’s actually very difficult! It’s extremely

difficult! You should not take refuge in

any monk you meet just to fill up the

Three Jewels.

To follow Buddhism, you should not

listen to anything that comes to you. It’s

necessary to carefully choose a teacher

as the Buddha has taught: “If you want to

learn Buddhism, you should choose a

teacher who has finished craving,

anger, and ignorance”, or being close to:

“ see the Holy monk, is fluent in the

method of the Holy monk; practice the

method of the Holy monk; see the

enlightened monk, is fluent in the


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method of the enlightened monk, and

practice the method of the enlightened

monk”. Such a monk is worth considering

our teacher. If you could not find such a

teacher, don’t take refuge in the Jewel of

Sangha. You should wait until you find

the right Jewel of Sangha to take refuge

in all three jewels; until then, please don’t

be in a hurry to devote your life to

miscreance; it’s such a waste of a human

life.

Though Sangha is listed as the third

Jewel, it’s the most important in the

Three Jewels. Without the Jewel of

Sangha, we could never be awakened to

the truth; without being awakened to the


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truth, we could not support and follow

the truth; without following the truth, we

could not attain the truth.

As such, the Jewel of Sangha is the most

valuable jewel. If you are born during the

time of the Buddha or an Arhat, this is an

unlimited fortune.

The Jewel of Sangha is priceless;

however, the Buddha passed away so

long ago and thus you cannot ask him

when you encounter difficulties in

practice. The followers only follow his

example of virtues as recorded in the

history. Taking refuge in the Jewel of

Buddha only is not enough. Therefore, if


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we want to fulfill our practice to attain

complete liberation, apart from the Jewel

of Buddha – a good example of virtues in

our way for liberation, there are more

things we need.

Jewel of Dharma is the canon texts, the

discourses taught by the Buddha which

are now gathered in the Nikayas by the

Patriarchs. We all follow these teachings

to perform our practice, but when we

have questions or difficulties we cannot

ask the canons.

So we take refuge in the Dharma but

could not have answer for our questions

to complete our practice. Therefore, the


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Jewel of Dharma is precious but not as

precious as the Jewel of Sangha as the

former has both advantages and

disadvantages i.e. not completely

advantageous.

The Jewel of Sangha is a person who lives

like other people but has attained the

truth and thus is experienced in practice

to guide others. Therefore, if we take

refuge in the person, we will be

awakened. After we are awaked to the

truth, he will teach us to follow the truth.

Soon after following the truth, we will

attain the truth. After attaining the truth,

we will master: living, aging, sickness and

death and put an end to rebirth.


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In summary, amongst the Three Jewels,

the Jewel of Sangha is the most useful.

Thanks to the Jewel of Sangha, people

can follow the right method of

Buddhism, being awakened to the truth,

knowing how to follow the truth and

hence attaining the truth. Without the

Jewel of Sangha, people would follow the

wrong method and so the life of practice

is just the matter of form. Now we have a

look at the nowadays Buddhist monks

and nuns, due to the lack of an

enlightened teacher, they only follow the

canons and create inverted explanation

of the texts to practice, and as a result,


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like a queue of the blind, they could not

attain the truth.

Today you have been taught in details

about the Three Jewels. So you should

choose the Three Jewels which match

your wish.

I would like to repeat: the Jewel of

Buddha is a real person, not an imaginary

or abstract figure. This is a real person

who has practiced and attained liberation

to master the four sufferings of human

life: living, aging, sickness and death and

put an end to reincarnation. He has

attained the ultimate truth – a target of


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unshakable mind3 – a path to escape the

four sufferings of a human life.

If people in this world understand that life

is suffering and see suffering as it really is,

they would wish to escape as no one

wants to live in sufferings. Just as they

don’t know the way out, they have no

choice but to stay, everyone looks

forward to peace and happiness, no one

wants sorrows!

Daily life is constantly interfered by

evilness in each circumstance, each

event, each object etc. And so you

frequently encounter obstacles which

3 [translator] The state of perfect equanimity of the mind

when it is free from greed, anger, ignorance, conceit, doubt.


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result in sorrows, pains, anger, dislike,

jealousy, hatred, fear etc. in many

circumstances people could not afford

and commit suicide or fall in the wrong

path of being addicted to alcohol,

gambling etc.

No human being could escape sickness.

The older a person is, the weaker his body

is; disease comes one after one and the

walking is not steady. The body is

impermanent; we know the constant

change in our body! As we know this

change clearly, we could not stay still as if

we were ignorant.

Before we knew the method, we had no

choice but to accept the four sufferings;


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but once we know the method to

overcome the sufferings, who would sit in

ignorance to take the torturing pains?

Today, I skillfully remind you of the right

Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha which are

the Three Jewels. After my teaching of

the Three Jewels, do you have any doubt?

Do you have any question of the meaning

of the Three Jewels? Is the meaning of

the Three Jewels worth taking refuge in?

From my view: the Three Jewels are so

beneficial and offer people peace and

happiness. You should have trust in them

as they give you salvation.


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In summary, the Jewel of the Buddha is

the example of virtues for people to

follow, is the torch showing the way for

people. Although the Buddha is no longer

in this world, remembering the Buddha is

to remember the first person who has

found the way to liberation for mankind

today.

In this world, there is no religion which

has the method like the Buddha’s

Dharma. It is the method to practice by

using self-power to fight with the enemy

of life-death-rebirth, the Buddha has

taught: “Light the torch and walk on

your own feet”. When the torch of virtues

for liberation spreads the light of living


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without giving sorrows to self and others

in every second, every minute, every day,

every month, every year, it turns the life

full of sins and sufferings into Heaven

with extreme happiness in this very

world instead of elsewhere.

It is taught clearly in the Dharma that if

someone often pays attention to prevent

and eliminate evilness and give rise to

and develop goodness, I believe that the

person has had the right understanding

of Buddhism and thus would not practice

wrong method. And so, no evilness could

penetrate their mind and body. They

would never let a karmic force last for one

day, two days, three days; only in a


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moment, a second, a minute they focus

to root it out. They would not let a single

sign of sorrows in their mind. They would

see all these as impermanent and

sufferings. Otherwise, if we are ignorant,

such things would torment and worry us

in a protracted period before becoming

less tense and disappear – this is due to

the lack of right method. Once we know

the Buddha’s method, we would never

be a fool to let our mind be tormented

day after day.

The Three Jewels are so precious and

beneficial that they help people live a

peaceful and happy life in a practical way

without any illusion.


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Dharma is not meant for magic such as

knowing the past, the future,

transforming or vanishing, spreading

light, going through rocks, mountains,

walls etc. Such magic serves no practical

usefulness; it’s just a cheap game of

illusion; it is not as useful as the method

of preventing and eliminating evilness.

You should consider this: a monk

practices to have magic knowing the past

and telling your family stories or your

future which could partly be accurate, but

will all these be useful to you? So you

should see that the Three Jewels are very

valuable.


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I will teach you the method to master the

living, aging, sickness and death so you

could have deeper understanding of the

high value of the Jewel of Dharma.

E.g.1. You are in anger over something;

to take away such anger, you use

Concentration by remembering the

breath4 applying the topic:

“contemplating on abandoning the anger,

I know I’m breathing in; contemplating on

abandoning the anger, I know I’m

breathing out”. With such thought and

4 [translator] in Vietnamese as “Định Niệm Hơi Thở”

which means to stay focused in a topic while remembering the breath i.e. you don’t focus in the breath, instead you focus in a topic that you would like to develop and by remembering the breath it keeps your mind awake and effective.


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mind gathering in the breath, the anger

will disappear.

E.g.2. You have a bellyache and you want

to no longer have this ache in your body;

you use Concentration by remembering

the breath applying the topic: “With

peaceful and calm body operation, I know

I’m breathing in; with peaceful and calm

body operation, I know I’m breathing out”.

With such thought and mind gathering in

the breath, the ache would fade away.

E.g.3. You have an aging and weakening

body; if you want to leave this body which

is made of the four great elements5, then

5 [translator] earth, water, air (wind), fire (heat)


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you should enter the Forth Concentration

(4th Jhana) to stop the breath and leave

the body to enter the stage of peace, bliss

and carefreeness; it means that you die in

peace and bliss without any sufferings

like ordinary people.

After consideration of the tremendous

value of the Three Jewels for our life, you

now join your hands together in front of

you, with your face towards the Buddha’s

statue and make your wish: “From now

on I vow to take refuge in the Three

Jewels and would never depart. I wish the

Buddha would certify this for us”.


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After making your vow, you would make

three bows to the Buddha to receive and

retain the Three Jewels.

(After bowing, please sit down and listen

to further teaching).

***


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PART 2: OBSERVING THE

FIVE PRECEPTS

Before observing the Five Precepts, you

need to understand what they mean.

There are two parts in “Observing the

Five Precepts”:

1- Observing

2- Five Precepts

Now you look at the meaning of

“Observing”. So what does “Observing”

mean?

Observing means to accept, to agree, to

count oneself powerless.


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Five Precepts means the five prohibition

rules. So observing the five precepts

means to accept to live in accordance

with the five rules without any violations

even at minimum level.

In Buddhism, these five precepts are the

five standards for being human. Anyone

who does not live in accordance with

these five precepts does not deserve

being a human.

Now I will transmit the five precepts, you

listen and contemplate to comprehend

these rules.

Here I would not transmit the five

precepts for the sake of saying. As


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Buddhism is based on voluntariness and

self-awareness, whoever comes to

Buddhism also comes with full

understanding of its four truths. With

comprehension of the four truths, one

would come with whole-hearted faith.

Therefore, one would voluntarily accept

and take the principles of conducts and

virtues as one’s life. Buddhism does not

entice anyone.

Buddhism is a way for liberation and so

there is no prohibiting five rules, as

prohibition means compulsion, and if

there is compulsion how can it be called a

way for liberation? The five prohibiting

precepts were invented by the Patriarchs


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to prevent Mahayana monks from

breaking, violating and crumbling the

rules etc.

My transmission of the five precepts here

is to teach you the five virtues and

conducts to be a worthy human being.

Whoever completely observes the five

virtues/conducts is a true human being.

So what are the five virtues?

The five virtues include:

1. The precept of not killing = the

Virtue of having Love and

Compassion for Life.

2. The precept of not stealing or

robbing = the Virtue of Letting go


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3. The precept of not having sexual

misconduct = the Virtue of being

Faithful

4. The precept of not telling lies = the

Virtue of being Honest

5. The precept of not drinking alcohol

= the Virtue of being Sober

***


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FIRST PRECEPT: NOT TO KILL

The precept of not killing is the “VIRTUE

OF HAVING LOVE AND COMPASSION FOR

LIFE”. Buddhist followers need to learn to

understand and live in accordance with

this virtue.

The Virtue of having Love and

Compassion for life means to cherish the

life of all beings on this planet.

Only human beings can carry out this

virtue; therefore, Buddhism was born to

teach human beings so that we can

establish a spirit of cherishing life. And

thanks to this, we can live without


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creating sufferings for ourselves, for

others and for other beings, and

transform the life in this world to one of

peace and happiness for all beings.

The planet on which we are living is a

planet of numerous combinations of

causing conditions to live and give rise to

other lives. There are innumerable

combinations of causing conditions and

thus innumerable arising causes. Birth

and death are nature of this planet. A

living planet is a planet which has plenty

of causing conditions combined to create

a new life. To create a new life means the

combination of causing conditions that


56

creates a new species of animal or

vegetation.

Therefore, all beings are created not by a

CREATOR but through the COMBINATION

OF CAUSING CONDITIONS.

We and all beings come into existence

out of the combination of causing

conditions, and so we need to cherish

others, cherish all beings, as only with

love and compassion can we protect the

life of all beings and ourselves. If we

heartlessly destroy the life of other

beings, it means we destroy our own life.

Why do we call our planet a living planet?


57

In the universe, there are many solar

systems, in each solar system, there are

many planets, and most of them are dead

planets as there is no life on them. In the

universal space, there are fewer living

planets compared with dead ones.

Living planet is a place where living

environment is suitable for beings to be

born, sprout, live and grow. Starting with

the moss, plant to bacterium, insect and

animal, and finally human appears.

Human is the high-grade and most

intelligent amongst animals. Thanks to

its intelligence, human is considered the

lord of all beings.


58

Animals living on this planet kill and eat

each other without mercy. Human is also

a kind of animal and thus has the savage

nature of animals to kill and eat meat.

Though humans consider themselves

civilized, the ferocious nature is still in

them.

As mentioned above, human beings are

of high grade thanks to their intelligence

and vivid sentiment, with which there are

people who have escaped the cruel

nature of animals, honoring the love for

life of all beings. One of them is the

Sakyamuni Buddha who has established

for humanity a moral foundation which is

based on the cause-and-effect law and


59

focuses on human development; and

called on all beings to live with the virtue

of cherishing life (the mind of love and

compassion) and true love for each other.

There is order in terms of love and

compassion towards life of all beings:

1. Level 1: Human beings love human

beings

2. Level 2: Human beings love other

animals

3. Level 3: Human beings love plants

and vegetation.

The virtue of love and compassion

combines all three levels. The love for life

originates from the heart (mind) of love,


60

compassion, joy, and let-go. In

Buddhism, such mind is called “the Four

Immeasurable Minds”. It is a method to

practice “the Virtue of Love and

Compassion for Life”.

A person with the mind of love and

compassion for life is the one who

appreciates life of all beings. And such

person is a Saint, as only a Saint could live

such a life. Having no heart to kill and eat

other beings means to move beyond the

ferocious nature of animals; such an act

could not be done by animals, only

human beings can do.


61

Therefore, a saint does not come from

the sky or from beneath the earth but

from mankind who have the heart of love

for all beings’ life.

From the understanding of sufferings, we

make effort to correct ourselves to

perform no evilness, and only to carry out

goodness – it is the practice to become

true human beings and from that to

become true Saints.

Please have a look at people around us, it

is so hard to find a human being who has

the heart of love for all beings’ life, isn’t

it?


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The Virtue of Love and Compassion for

Life is to define your mind of love,

compassion, joy, and let-go. Regardless

of age, one must live in accordance with

this to be a holy Buddhist follower.

Nevertheless, there are some people who

dress like the Buddha and call themselves

Buddha’s disciples and followers of the

Original Method of the Buddha but still

eat meat in their daily life without any

compassion towards the killings and

sufferings of animals. Such enormous

crime is covered with lies, especially from

the text of Nirvana Sutra, they say that

“Before His pass-away, the Buddha ate

meat of wild boar”. Such a crafty and


63

cunning fabrication. Look at it and you

see that there is no better lie, as by saying

“the Buddha ate meat”, no one could

condemn them.

Meanwhile, the Buddha taught us:

“Inherit method, rather not to inherit

food”. The first precept teaches “NOT TO

KILL”. Despite these, they’ve dared to

fabricate the story of the Buddha eating

meat before passing away.

At that moment, a bhikkhu coming from

afar presented the Buddha with an

event: “Sir, there were two of us on the

way here. Thanks to drinking water with

worms, I kept my life to come here to


64

meet you, whereas my friend, due to his

adherence to the principle of not

drinking water with worms, died. What

is your judgment in this regards?”

The Buddha said: “Such ignorance!

Don’t you know that the other bhikkhu

thanks to his not drinking water with

worms had met me before you reached

here? And you, even though you are

here, you never truly see me. Do you

understand?”

This teaching affirms that nowadays

Buddhist monks, nuns and followers

never see the Buddha because they

violate and break the law.


65

Only by drinking water with worms, it is

impossible to meet the Buddha; how can

the monks, nuns and followers who eat

other beings’ meat practice and attain

liberation?

Where is the Virtue of Love and

Compassion for Life in those who call

themselves Holy bhikkhus, bhikkhunis

and followers while eating other beings’

meat? Do these people know the Four

Immeasurable Minds of Buddhism?

Where are the Four Immeasurable Minds

in them? Without fulfilling the Virtue of

Love and Compassion for Life, they could

not become Holy monks, nuns and

followers.


66

If Holy monks, nuns and followers eat

meat, what kind of “Holy” is that? You

think and have the answer yourself.

Even a true lay follower of Buddhism

would not eat meat, so what’s the point

of reading through Buddhist canons

while monks and nuns still eat meat? Can

these monks and nuns be compared to

these lay followers?


Life identifies amongst the four groups of

Buddha’s disciples i.e.:

1. Male lay followers (upasakas)

2. Female lay followers (upasikas)

3. Monks (bhikkhus)


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4. Nuns (bhikkhunis)

who are the Holy disciples of the Buddha

and who are the Duratama Mara 6

disguising as Buddha’s disciples?

Through the Virtue of Love and

Compassion for Life, we could distinguish

the true disciples from the untrue. Once

we realize the true Buddha’s disciples, we

should respect and support for the

everlasting existence of Buddhism.

How can Buddha’s disciples eat other

beings’ meat? So, is Buddhism worth

being the path of Love and Compassion?

Is it worth being the moral foundation

6 [translator] Demons of the sixth heaven (Duratama

Mara or Mara-papiman)


68

which is based on the causality law,

having human beings as its core and

helping people to live without giving

sorrows to self and others? Is it worth

being the Path of Wisdom? If it is a path

of wisdom, why is there consumption of

meat without sense of goodness and

evilness? If it is a path of wisdom, how can

there be indulgence in the craving of

eating?

To hide the vulgar and ferocious nature

following the worldly craving in eating,

some monks and nuns say: “Eat meat

without seeing, hearing, doubting”, and

“before His pass-away, the Buddha ate

meat of wild boar”. Such sayings are so


69

guilty that their negative effect would

last for innumerable lives. As a result,

nowadays monks and nuns could not

attain Arhat stage; it is due to the effect

of not fulfilling the Virtue of Love and

Compassion for Life. Though there are

monks who don’t eat meat, they don’t

have the heart of love for life as they

don’t practice the Four Immeasurable

Minds.

To slander the Buddha eating meat to

hide their crime is an act of deceit of

those under the cloak of Buddhism. It’s

the act of breaking Holy Virtues and

Conducts of Buddhism, subject to


70

Parajikas7 sentence, falling into hell and

being beheaded.

The heart of love for all life is a Holy

Virtue of the Buddhist monks and nuns.

Regardless of being a monk, nun or lay

follower, one should live completely in

accordance with this virtue; otherwise,

the debt of life would be so heavy in many

lives.

Any monks and nuns that go against this

Virtue of Love and Compassion for Life

are the monks and nuns of evil who feed

their bodies with flesh, bone and blood of

7 [translator] The first section of the Vinaya Pitaka

containing rules of expulsion from the order for unpardonable sins


71

other beings – this could not be called

Holy disciples of the Buddha.

In the Eight Noble Paths, do you know

what Right Livelihood is?

Is sustaining one’s life with flesh, bone

and blood of other beings Right

Livelihood?

How can Right Livelihood be involved in

eating lives of other beings? Is keeping

one’s life in such a way Right Livelihood?

When one sustains his life without

creating sufferings to other beings, it is

Right Livelihood. People talk and preach

about Right Livelihood but they don’t live

accordingly.


72

Without Right Livelihood, it is no point in

becoming Buddha’s disciple, isn’t it?

Better not to follow Buddhism, but once

following the Buddha, one should live

exactly in accordance with the Buddha’s

teachings. Living not in accordance with

the Buddha’s teaching is to defame

Buddhism.

Therefore, one sustaining one’s life with

wrong livelihood could not be called a

disciple of the Buddha. There is no

benefit to become a Buddha disciple

while going against the truth of

Buddhism (The Truth of Cessation of

Suffering). The Eight Noble Paths are an

education and training program to teach


73

us a life of right conducts, which are

virtues for one to become true Human,

true Saint.


Life is the noble cherishing treatment

towards all beings that everyone has to

learn and practice, not only for Buddha’s

disciples.

In order to protect the life of all species on

this planet, we have to try our best to

correct ourselves, to live completely with

the Virtue of Love and Compassion for

Life. As Virtue of Love and Compassion

for Life is noble act, people should live

accordingly to spread out love to all


74

beings. Every species wishes to live, none

wants to die.

“Not to perform evilness,

Only to carry out goodness”.

“Prevent and eliminate evilness,

To start and raise goodness”.

So when you kill other beings to cook

food offering to monks, is it goodness? Is

it to start and increase goodness?

Do you know that you go against the

teachings of the Buddha?

In Jivaka Sutra, the Buddha taught that

a lay follower who killed living beings to

cook food and offered it to the monks


75

had five non-merits i.e. five sins. This is

due to the lack of thorough

understanding of the right Buddhist

teachings while only listening, knowing

and understanding the interpretation of

monks: “Eating without seeing, hearing,

and doubt”, or: “one while eating meat but

think of it as cabbage equals to eating

cabbage…”. These are words of lie to

deceive Buddhist followers. The monks

even deceive you more with arguments

so that they could swallow animal meat:

“Even Buddha ate meat….eating meat,

fish but think of it as cabbage means to eat

cabbage, despite your persistence, once in

the stomach all food is the same”.


76

Dear Buddhist followers! Where is the

Virtue of Love and Compassion for Life

that monks can chew and swallow meat?

Monks are Holy bhikkhus, while Holy lay

followers don’t violate this precept, how

can Holy bhikkhus violate this precept?

However, devotees have eyes but it is as

if they were blind, have ears but as if they

were deaf, have mind but as if they were

silly, don’t they?

In summary, in order to become a Holy

monk, nun, lay follower of the Buddha,

one has to strictly follow the precept of

Holy Virtue of Love and Compassion for

Life, even strictly following this precept is

not enough, one must also practice the


77

Four Immeasurable Minds: Love,

Compassion, Joy, and Let-go. Thanks to

sufficient practice of the Four

Immeasurable Minds, one could live

completely with love for all beings. Such

way of living manifests the Holy Virtue of

Love and Compassion for Life; do not

follow Tuệ Trung Thượng Sỹ, Mad monk

Ji Gong, Living Buddha of Golden

Mountain and Zen monk Fenyang

ShanZhao etc. who shamelessly ate meat

and drank alcohol like worldly people, we

could not have any more comments on

such cases.

***


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SECOND PRECEPT: NOT TO BE

GREEDY AND STEAL

Not to be greedy and steal is the “VIRTUE

OF LETTING GO”. All monks, nuns and lay

followers need to learn to understand

and live in accordance with this virtue.

A person who has the virtue of letting go

does not accumulate or be greedy for

material property and fortune. One could

create wealth and fortune by his own

hands but should not let property and

fortune give you sorrows and should live

a simple life away from materials.


79

People with the virtue of letting-go often

see that worldly materials create “LIFE”.

Life means all things surrounding us and

creating a life of sufferings. The more

properties one has, the more sufferings

one has. It is, isn’t it?

People with the mind of letting-go,

staying away from worldly materials are

following the right method of the Buddha

and living in accordance with the

Conducts of Holy Upasakas and

Upasikas.

The Conduct of letting go is the

education of letting go worldly materials,

and only Buddhism has such monks, nuns


80

and lay followers. As Buddhist method

teaches “to let go of craving, to let go of

evilness”; therefore, the Virtue of Letting

go is very important for the four types of

Buddhist disciples.

If one doesn’t live strictly with the

demeanor of Virtue of Letting-go, one

could never eliminate the mind of craving

and stealing in oneself. If one could not

eliminate the mind of craving, there’s no

point in following Buddhism and what is

worse is that such people would defame

Buddhism.

In the life of practice, thanks to the Virtue

of Letting go, a Buddhist disciple will no


81

longer be greedy to steal and no longer

be interested in money and worldly

facilities. Their minds are very pure and

as white as a sea-shell.

In this world, if everyone immediately

lets go, people could sleep without

having to lock the door, without worrying

about theft; there would be no cheating,

deception, inaccurate weighing and

measuring etc.; there would be no one

who appropriates the fruit of other’s

labour, or snatching; and there would be

no bribery etc.

The Virtue of Let-go helps people who

lose their properties not to be saddened


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or who have many properties would not

be attached. Those who are not attached

to the worldly materials and properties

are living in accordance with the Virtue of

Let-go and have a life of stability, peace

and happiness, and no sorrows related to

materials.

Virtue of Let-go doesn’t mean the

negativity of refusing to work. Vice versa,

those with Virtue of Let-go work harder

than anyone else. Why do they work so

much?

They work hard to live a good life, to

support others, to live without greed, it is

the VIRTUE OF LET-GO IN HARD WORKING.


83

Working hard and staying away from

greed, theft, cheating, deception means

the Virtue of Let-go. Working hard to

make properties without being attached

to facilities and money earned, it is a

good act of creating wealth to help

others. The act of helping others is the

virtue of let-go.

Therefore, the VIRTUE OF LET-GO always

goes hand-in-hand with the VIRTUE OF

HARD WORKING. One having the virtue of

let-go and the virtue of hard working

deserves to be one without greed or

theft, one who is Holy monk, nun, layman

and laywoman of the Buddha.


84

Such person knows how to live to

cultivate the virtue of let-go so that one’s

mind is not attached to materials,

money, valuables; so that one’s mind

stays away from greed, selfishness,

narrow-mindedness; so that one’s mind

stays away from greed, theft, deception

etc…yet in line with the virtue of hard

working. Thanks to living with the virtue

of hard working, one would not live on

society and not become a burden to

others.

Here, you should understand Buddhism

says that life is suffering but does not tell

you to evade life. To say that life is


85

suffering means to acknowledge the

truth that life is suffering. Knowing that

life is truly suffering is to overcome it,

rather not to be pessimistic to evade life.

To mention that life is suffering means to

point out the truth of a human life, rather

not to abandon life, to run away

(negative, pessimistic, keep away from

everyone’s life).

Here, saying that life is suffering is for us

together to practice to live with right

conducts and virtues of a right human

being, to love each other, to share with

each other, to give up one’s interest to

others, to contribute and work hard to


86

help to lessen or eliminate the sufferings

of life; rather not to know the sufferings

of life to abandon life, to look for a more

joyous, more peaceful and happier world

etc. as in the texts of heresy or other

teachings that build up the world of gods,

heaven, the Land of Ultimate Bliss,

Nirvana etc. to avoid sufferings of this

world; to dream of an illusive world of joy

and bliss. Live in accordance with the

expanded sect and other religions is

impractical as one could never live on the

salvation of others. If we always create

sufferings to ourselves and to others,

who can save us? Is that right?


87

Due to the dissemination of pessimistic,

negative, passive thoughts, nowadays

there are some pessimistic and negative

people who are fed up with this world and

look for another world of Gods, world of

Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Land of Ultimate

Bliss, the world of Return to Origin, the

world of Monogenesis, the world of

Nirvana. Those people are full of craving,

running after desire, fame and wealth,

looking for more pleasures in other

worlds.

People with such yearning do not

cultivate the virtue of let-go. They are

discontented with this world of human


88

because they could not achieve the

pleasures, fame and wealth, not because

of their letting go.

One who lives to cultivate the virtue of

let-go does not mean to be discontented

with life in negativity and pessimism,

instead, they have been rebuilding well

the life, contributing to make this world

become one of Heaven, Utmost

Happiness. If people live with let-go

virtue, the world would no longer have

people stealing, robbing, and would not

become hell.

One who lives with right demeanor of the

Virtue of Let-go knows clearly that all


89

things of this world are ephemeral, there

is nothing permanent, eternal, there is no

world of eternity, this is merely our

imagination. All happenings are due to

the combination and departure of the

causing conditions. And therefore,

human beings need to protect and

rebuild the world that they have, to make

it better, brighter, with sufficient

morality in life.

Therefore, one cultivates the virtue of let-

go but also works hard for oneself, for

others, so that our presence is useful for

ourselves and for others, this is not the

evasion or abandoning of life as wrongly


90

thought by some people regarding

Buddhism.

The Virtue of Let-go helps us to live a life

of purity, without deception and greed,

without stealing, a life of peace and at

rest. Please remember that deception

and theft here not only include the act of

taking without permission but also other

acts of deception and craft such as:

- A worker goes on go-slow strike also

means theft

- A teacher in class while giving work

to pupils reads newspaper also

means theft


91

- A doctor receives gifts from patients

also means theft

- A policeman receives bribery to let

vehicles carrying tax-evaded

commodities into the city also means

theft

In summary, the Virtue of Let-go

conquers the mind of craving and theft,

helping body and mind not being

attached to worldly materials, allowing

the mind in peace, bliss and care-

freeness.

One who wishes to live with the Virtue of

Let-go has to constantly look into the

truth that all things are impermanent,


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egoless, out of the combination of

causing conditions and of suffering

nature. In this worldly life, when a monk,

nun or lay followers live completely

according to the Virtue of Let-go, the

world would be Heaven, Land of Utmost

Happiness and how happy human’s life

would be.

***


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THIRD PRECEPT: NOT TO

PERFORM SEXUAL ISCONDUCT

This is the “VIRTUE OF BEING FAITHFUL”.

Lay followers need to study, to

understand and live in accordance with

this virtue.

One who does not perform sexual

misconduct shows that their mind and

body are constant, loyal, grateful, and

truthful. If one still has sexual

misconduct, their mind and body cannot

be constant, loyal, grateful and truthful.

When one’s mind and body are not

constant, loyal, grateful and truthful, one


94

is always deceitful, disloyal, and

ungrateful. If the mind is still with sexual

misconduct, how can one be called Holy

lay follower. Is it right?

Therefore, the Virtue of Being Faithful

also identifies a Buddhist lay follower of

being constant, loyal, truthful to one’s

family. What’s the point of one following

Buddhism but one’s mind is not constant,

loyal and truthful to one’s family? This

also defames Buddhism as a Buddhist

follower but being disloyal, ungrateful,

unfaithful, and untruthful. This is

extremely disgraceful.


95

Dear Buddhist followers! A Holy lay

follower could never perform sexual

misconduct; with sexual misconduct, one

could not be a Holy lay follower. Is this

right?

The Virtue of Being Faithful is the virtue

of being consistent and having fast

affection for one’s wife or husband.

In family life, husband and wife share

conjugal happiness and stay together

during the ups and downs. Therefore,

one should be consistent and faithful.

Once getting married, one should not

commit adultery. To commit adultery

means to hurt one’s family and other’s


96

family, to devastate both families.

Children will suffer and hate parents all

their life. If one is a parent and does not

sacrifice one’s interest for the happiness

of children, it is immoral.

Therefore, a person who does not have

the virtue of being faithful is similar to

animals such as: dogs, bulls, cows, goats,

chicken, ducks etc.

A person who keeps the Virtue of Being

Faithful is the one who brings peace and

happiness to one’s family. One who

keeps the Virtue of Being Faithful is the

one who knows how to live without

creating sufferings for husband or wife,


97

children, parents and relatives of both

sides of the family.

In a family, the Virtue of Being Faithful is

a noble virtue, it is the god of happiness

for each family. Therefore, Buddhist

followers having family need to live and

practice in accordance with the Virtue of

Being Faithful as it is a necessity for

family protection.

***


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FORTH PRECEPT: NOT TO TELL

LIE

This is the “VIRTUE OF BEING HONEST”.

Buddhist followers living at home need to

learn, understand and live with this virtue

to bring about benefits to oneself, to

others and to both.

The precept of not to tell lies is the Virtue

and Conduct of Being Honest. A person

who does not tell lies is a true human

being, ordinary people could not avoid

telling lies, even a white lie or a joke is still

a lie which still demolishes one’s credit.

Not to tell lies is a very hard thing to do,


99

therefore, as a human being, everyone

tells lie, whether a little or a lot, harmful

or harmless.

To tell lies is karma of the mouth8,

therefore, only human beings commit

the sin of telling lies, animals do not

commit this sin as they could not speak.

A person who does not tell lies is the one

of high credit; people would pay him

great respect, trust and profound

appreciation.

There are four parts of telling lies:

A- To lie

8 [translator] Karma of the mouth is one of the three

karmas. The other two are karma of the body and karma of the mind.


100

B- To say harsh speech

C- To say differently with different

people on the same matter with a

negative intension.

D- To tell cheatings

There are many forms of telling lies:

1. To praise someone who is not as

good as the praise. Such a lie is a

flattery to win the senior’s heart.

To praise immoral activities of

others as moral means to tell lies.

2. To say that the Most Venerables

who had died in suffering

diseases entered into nirvana

means to tell lies as they did not

know how to enter into nirvana.


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3. To say wrongly about something

is to tell lies. The Diamond Sutra

says: “Bodhisattvas having

rescued all beings will become

Buddhas” which means a person

who practices to get rid of all

thoughts will become a Buddha.

Such teaching is a lie, as when a

person finishes all thoughts his

mind will fall into “emptiness”

instead of becoming a Buddha.

Buddha actually means THE

MIND WHICH IS UNINFLUENCED9

in front of evilness and feelings,

9 [translator] The state of perfect equanimity of the mind

when it is free from greed, anger, ignorance, conceit, doubt.


102

rather than the mind without

thoughts or without distinction

or not staying anywhere etc.

4. In the Heart Sutra: “Practicing

deeply with the Insight that

Brings Us to the Other Shore

would discover that all of the five

Skandhas10 are equally empty”.

Such teaching is a lie as there has

not been anyone who could see

the five skandhas as empty. The

Lion Patriarch was killed because

of this lie. In pagodas, days and

10 [translator] Five skandhas (Sanskrit)

or khandhas (Pāḷi) are five aggregates that constitute a human being. They are material form, feeling, imagination, operation, and wisdom.


103

nights with four periods, people

recite and chant the Heart Sutra

and we have not seen anyone

truly going beyond sufferings, so

this sutra is a lie.

5. If someone does not see or hear

something but says that he or

she does see or hear it, this is a

lie.

6. If someone does see or hear

something but says that he or

she does not see or hear it, this is

a lie.

7. To fabricate, to slander others

means to tell lie.


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8. Having doubt and telling things

which are not true, this is telling

lie.

9. To sing the praise without

adequate substance means to

tell lie.

10. To add or cut details, to

spread a rumour so that people

will make fun of someone: this is

telling lie.

11. To sing the praise of someone

in the wrong way is to tell lie.

12. A person who does not live in

accordance with the [Buddhist]

laws and principles while

adopting the appearance of a


105

monk/nun to call one’s self as

monk/nun, this is telling lie.

13. To talk ill of one person to

other person and vice versa, this

is telling lie.

14. To talk nice of people in front

of them and talk ill at their back,

this is telling lie.

15. To criticize others in the

wrong way i.e. without adequate

comprehension of others’

knowledge means to tell lie.

16. To criticize the Buddha’s laws

and principles as out of date

means to tell lie.


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17. To criticize that an Arhat still

has habit energy without having

adequate understanding and

knowledge of a person attaining

Arhat fruition is telling lie.

18. To invent many Arhat

fruitions as in the Mahayana

canons: 1- Arhats with full

enlightenment, 2- Arhats who

are independently awakened, 3-

Sound-hearer Arhat etc. This is a

lie, because the fruit of attaining

Arhat means to be totally free

from all sufferings11; anyone who

11 [translator] this means to be free from craving, anger,

ignorance, ego and doubt.


107

practices and attains the status

of being totally free from all

sufferings is the one who attains

the fruit of Arhat. There is no

hierarchy in Arhat fruition; to

invent the hierarchy for Arhat

fruition is of mundane thought or

worldly way of thinking. It is a lie

when a person who has not

attained the Arhat status invents

Arhat fruitions. Therefore, to

praise or to defame, or to create

division not in accordance with

the truth are to tell lie.

19. To say something that others

could not understand with their


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mind but with their imagination

means to tell lie. For example, it

is a lie saying that there exist

souls of the dead, the Buddha-

nature, the metaphysical world,

it is imaginary and unreal.

20. Saying that there is self and

soul in human beings is to tell lie.

Previously, the Buddha taught:

“If I say something that people

understand and perceive with

their mind, it means I don’t tell

lie. If I say something that people

have to understand it with their

imagination, it means there is lie

in my sayings”.


109

21. Saying that the Buddha-

nature is the awareness outside

the knowing of mind, of

imagination and of wisdom is to

tell lie, as apart from the

mentioned three knowings,

there is no other knowing.

22. Saying that the metaphysical

world exists i.e. souls of the dead

exist is to tell lie, people say so

without knowing that what they

call souls is created by the

aggregate of imagination of a

living person.

23. Saying that there exist

heavenly realm and Utmost


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Happiness realm means to tell lie

as there is no such realms and

they are created by the

imagination of human beings.

24. Saying that human world is

real is also a lie, as human world

is the world of combination of

causing conditions. Once there is

combination, there is also

departure, and so life and death

are the combination and

departure of causing conditions.

There is nothing real as all is just

combination and departure,

saying that it is real is a lie. Why

is that? As human world is the


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combination of causing

conditions, there is no real-self.

Saying that human world is real

is to say from imagination, it is as

illusive as in the heterodox texts.

25. Saying that human beings

reincarnated from the Light-

sound heaven to the human

world is to tell lie, because with

such saying, humans could only

perceive it via imagination

instead of the understanding of

the mind.

As a result the Buddha taught: “If I say

something that people understand and

perceive with their mind, it means I


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don’t tell lie. If I say something that

people have to understand it with their

imagination, it means there is lie in my

sayings”. Saying something that people

don’t understand or understand

ambiguously, without details and clarity

is to tell lie.

A right Buddhist monk or nun never say

anything that wriggles like an eel: “both

exist and not exist” (form is emptiness,

emptiness is form), such saying is a lie, a

deception, a cheating. We would like to

repeat the above. In the Heart Sutra:

“Practicing deeply with the Insight that

Brings Us to the Other Shore would

discover that all of the five Skandhas are


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equally empty”. Such teaching is a lie as

for uncountable generations since the

introduction of this saying, in pagodas

people have been reciting and chanting

this on daily basis and have their five

skandhas become empty?

If the five skandhas are empty, why have

they still suffered from diseases?

If the five skandhas are empty, why are

there huge pagodas with big statues?

If the five skandhas are empty, why are

they still so greedy, angry and ignorant?

Obviously, the saying is deceptive, is to

tell lie to mislead people.


114

The Lotus Sutra says: “Even someone has

committed a tremendous mountain of

crime, [such crime would be erased] only

by chanting a few lines of Lotus Sutra”.

This teaching is a lie. Has there been

anyone committed robbery, murder and

thus been imprisoned and sentenced to

death and just by chanting the Lotus

Sutra such person can be released and

freed from the death sentence?

The virtue of not to tell lie is the virtue

and conduct related to the karma of the

mouth, therefore, when we say

something or expound the sutra or

lecture on any canon, we have to say the

meaning with our first-hand experience


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of practice in details and with clarity, this

is not to tell lie; otherwise if we teach

something that we ourselves have not

practiced and attained practical results,

such teaching is a lie. When we teach and

people accordingly practice and attain

liberation practically, this is telling the

truth; when we teach and people could

not attained practical result, this is telling

lie. The Buddha has affirmed: “My

Dharma is not time consuming, you

come to practice and see the result”.

This is how the Buddha has asserted that

his teaching is not a lie.

Therefore, the liberation comes together

with the practice of the Dharma, such


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method is not a lie. Therefore, the

method of contemplation of Buddhism is

very clear: “prevent evilness, eliminate

evilness”, this is a method leading to

evident liberation. As when we prevent

and eliminate evilness we clearly see the

freedom in our heart.

Those who know what evilness is but fail

to prevent and eliminate it do not salvage

themselves. Those who prevent and

eliminate evilness will finish their

sufferings. Such is true method, no lie at

all, as the method teaches that one will

attain immediate result in proportion to

the extent of their practice. Such

teaching nurtures us to become human


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beings who do not tell lie. Such preachers

are the keepers of the Virtue of Honesty.

One who has attained the Arhat fruition

gives lecture and teaches others to

practice, he does not tell lie.

Those who have not practiced and

attained the Arhat status but give

lectures and teach others are liars even

though they teach in accordance with the

meaning of the canons. Due to the lack of

practical experience, their teachings fail

to lead others to the result of liberation.

As a result, it turns out to be a lie.

In the time of the Buddha, he did not

allow those who had not attained full


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enlightenment to teach because without

full enlightenment, they would kill people

instead of rescuing them. You can see the

present evidence, the number of

Buddhist followers is huge but who has

mastered the life, aging, sickness and

death? Yet it costs people billions in

constructing pagodas and Buddha

statues and their energy and time to

practice, but what is their result?

As Ananda had not reached to the final

truth, each time when the Buddha

appointed him to teach, he told Ananda

to tell people before teaching: “This is

what I’ve heard from the teachings of the

Buddha”, “I once heard when the Buddha


119

was at Shravasti”. Nowadays, all

Mahayana canons put these sentences in

each sutra.

“My Dharma is not time consuming, you

come to practice and see the result”.

This teaching shows us that the method

of the Buddha is very practical and in

details. As the method gives immediate

results, for example in a teaching of the

Buddha: “My mind is greedy, I know my

mind is greedy…”. Once we know our

mind is greedy, we know that it is

evilness; once we know it is evilness, we

will quickly stop such greed, and we are

liberated right there, aren’t we?


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If you know your mind contains anger,

you will immediately stop such anger,

you will get liberation right there,

otherwise if you don’t stop that anger,

you suffer. Is that true?

The method of the Buddha is practical,

isn’t it? However, nowadays many

people teach impractical Buddhist

methods such as: To sit and suppress the

mind so that there would not be any

thought; chanting Buddha’s name so

that there is no other thought than the

Buddha’s name, chanting sutras to ask

for things etc. Can these practices

eliminate greed, anger, ignorance? Are

they practical and in details as the


121

Buddha’s teachings mentioned above?

So to sit and suppress the mind so that

there would not be any thought; chanting

Buddha’s name so that there is no other

thought than the Buddha’s name to have

rebirth in Pure Land, chanting sutras to

ask for Buddhas’ protection from

accidents etc. are all lies, they are not

true methods, simply deceit to cost

people’s finance and energy for nothing

good.

The Virtue of Honesty has confirmed that

the majority of preachers nowadays are

liars. They tell lies because they teach

what they have not practiced (not fully

enlightened). The Mahayana canons


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teach: “Follow the teachings, not follow

the people”. This teaching covers the lies

of preachers. Telling others to follow laws

and principles while they themselves do

not follow is to tell lie. Teaching others to

attain Holy fruitions while the preacher

has not attained Holy fruition is to tell lie.

Without practical experience, how can

they attain full enlightenment?

In summary, when we have not

completed our practice, we should be as

quiet as a Saint. It is to tell lie to teach

others without being fully enlightened;

people should be aware of such

counterfeit Sages. They are “fake”

Boddhisattvas and only tell lies.


123

The Virtue of not to tell lie is to identify

those who strictly follow laws and

principles. They are Holy monks, nuns

and followers; they are true disciples of

the Buddha. On the opposite, those who

violate, break and crumb the laws and

principles and often tell lies are Duratama

Mara, disguising in Buddhist form to

cheat people and uproot Buddhism.

***


124

FIFTH PRECEPT: NOT TO DRINK

ALCOHOL

Not to drink alcohol is the “VIRTUE OF

BEING SOBER”. A Buddhist disciple needs

to learn to properly understand and live in

accordance with this virtue and conduct

so as not to create sufferings for self, for

others and for both.

A person with the Virtue of Being Sober

could not let their body and mind

contracted in worldly evilness such as:

cigarettes, coffee, tea, heroin, opium and

any kind of alcohols making people

drunk, addicted, making their body


125

ailing, their nerves tense, confused,

making people crazy and insane etc. such

things make people addicted and not

able to quit.

In the life of human beings, there are so

many worldly evils that make people’s

mind and body attracted and addicted to.

Alcohol is a poisonous liquid, drinking it

will stimulate the body and make people

act as if they were crazy, walking with

tottering steps, falling backward and

forward, lying anywhere regardless clean

or dirty, uttering gibberish, repeating a

sentence for many times, and such things


126

take away the feeling of respect from

others.

Those drinking alcohol are not wise,

actually they are the most stupid.

- Firstly, they lose money in buying

alcohol.

- Secondly, they unconsciously bring

poison into their body. Alcohol

brings diseases which are difficult

to treat to the body and makes the

mind doltish and not lucid.

- Thirdly, alcohol makes people

become greedy in eating, in

drinking, easy to get into fighting,


127

insulting spouses, children and

neighbors.

- Fourthly, a drunk person could

disturb the neighborhood and

public security.

A person’s value would deteriorate when

he is drunk, let alone a Buddhist disciple,

there is no good value in a drunk Buddhist

disciple, isn’t there?

Once getting drunk and being excited,

the drunk see themselves as the highest

and above all others and thus using

haughty words, exalting self and

depreciating others, insulting others,

shouting, abusing bad words, swearing

etc.


128

What sort of Buddhist disciple with a

glass of wine or can of beer is it?

Even with ordinary people drinking

alcohol, others would see them as

unwise, not perspicacious, and unkind

toward themselves. Taking poison into

their body to hurt themselves is an action

of crazy people or people who have lost

their minds.

It is said that: the immortals often drink

alcohol (immortal alcohol). Is this true?

Such saying is stemmed from the

imagination of human beings for those

who fully enjoy worldly pleasures without

hard working. In fact, when a person


129

leaves for practice in the forest, where

can they have alcohol to drink? Who

would make alcohol for them to drink?

Such image of the immortal is only the

imagination of human beings!

The Virtue of Being Sober shows us that

the Holy, the Immortal, the Buddha are

sober, perspicacious. How can one be

sober and perspicacious if he drinks

alcohol?

If an Immortal drinks alcohol, he is not an

Immortal but rather an ordinary person

enjoying eating and drinking. An

Immortal is one with pure mind and body,


130

being wise and lucid and therefore would

not take alcohol.

If a person is drowned in alcohol, he could

not be called an Immortal but instead a

Stupid. Only the stupid get addicted and

hurt their mind and body. Is this true?

Such people hurt themselves, their

spouses and children and parents.

Alcohol is bitter and brings many

suffering diseases etc.

People without right understanding

consider Li Bai as an Immortal. The truth

is Li Bai is a drunk poet. With alcohol, he

could write poems, without alcohol, he

could not write poems.


131

According to the teachings of the

Buddha’s sutras: there are five standards

for a true human being and drinking is a

standard for not deserving to be a true

human being. A drinking person is not a

true human being. Virtues and conducts

are used for distinguishing the Holy, the

Immortal, the Buddha from humans and

animals. The standard of virtues and

conducts clearly identifies who is animal,

who is human, who is Holy, who is

Immortal, and who is Buddha. The Virtue

of Being Sober certifies this.

And so in Buddhism, laws and principles

are used to identify and classify: how to

be a true human, how to be a true


132

Immortal, how to be a true Holy and how

to be a true Buddha. It is easy to meet

animal standard, but it is not easy to

meet the standard of a true human being,

therefore Confucius said: “it is difficult to

be a human being”. It is thousand-fold

difficult to be Holy, Immortal, and

Buddha.

Such standard is set out by Buddhism via

daily life conducts; it is cheating to call

anyone who does not meet such

standard as human, Holy, Immortal,

Buddha.

And so, from the perspective of Buddhist

standards, we could differentiate a true


133

human, Holy, Immortal, Buddha from the

fake. No one can cheat us. Is this right?

The five virtues of a Buddhist follower let

us know clearly the true Buddhist

followers and the fake ones in Buddhism.

By violating only one amongst the five

Virtues, one is not a Buddhist follower.

I would like to repeat, a Buddhist follower

holding a glass of wine or a can of beer

does not deserve the standards of a Holy

Buddhist follower; similarly a Buddhist

follower holding a cigarette does not

deserve the meaning of a Holy Buddhist

follower, a Buddha’s disciple. Is this

right?


134

This virtue prohibits alcohol as alcohol is

an addictive substance which easily

attracts people. Apart from alcohol, we

need to understand there are other

addictive substances such as: cigarette,

tea, coffee, drug etc. though the Buddha

did not mention, we should know that

these are poisonous substances that

bring illness and diseases to our body and

sufferings to us. As such, there would be

no value of a true Buddhist follower in

someone smoking cigarette and fuming.

Is this right?

A Buddhist follower could not drown

oneself in these poisonous substances,

because being drowned in them means


135

there is no right demeanor of a Buddhist

follower.

A Buddhist follower is a representative

for the morality of living without giving

sufferings to oneself, other people and all

beings. How can such representative of

morality smoke cigarette?

It doesn’t matter if one is not a Buddhist

follower (upasaka or upasika); however, if

a person is an upasaka or upasika who has

taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and

Sangha, he or she needs to be in the right

conduct of a Buddhist disciple;

otherwise, any violation would lead to

defamation of the Dharma, of Buddhism


136

and in such case who will be responsible

for such crime?

So Buddhist followers breaking the law at

present will bear the crime of falling into

hell. Prior to the time of death, they will

have to suffer from serious diseases,

sudden grave illness with unlimited pains.

Don’t say that this is karmic payoff or

accumulation of karma. Holy Buddhist

followers should be able to make

“transformation”, with transformation

how could one have such suffering

feelings? The saying of “karmic payoff,

karmic accumulation” is only words of

deception to cover up their sins.


137

An upasaka or upasika fully following the

five precepts will know his or her date and

time of death with slight disease and pass

away peacefully without much

sufferings. And in the opposite, for those

violating and breaking the law and failing

in all Holy demeanors and leading to

depravation of Buddhism, they will suffer

huge pains and great misery at the time

of death.

The example of those violating the laws

reminds others to avoid such path of

failure.

Is there anything good in alcohol,

cigarette etc. to be attracted to? Alcohol,


138

cigarette, drug etc. are poisonous

substances that everyone should stay

away from. Someone still enjoying

alcohol, cigarette etc. should not take

refuges in the Three Jewels and Five

Precepts.

Buddhist followers are Holy disciples of

the Buddha and therefore should

abandon and stay away from alcohol,

cigarette and other addictive substances.

It does not matter if you are not a

Buddha’s disciple; however, if you are,

then you have to give up such easily

attractive sensual pleasures.


139

Dear all upasakas and upasikas! We need

to respect the Virtues and Conducts that

the Buddha has taught us, no despising is

allowed and strict discipline is required,

no drinking of alcohol or smoking of

cigarettes etc. at all.

We need to be wise and sober to conserve

the Virtue of Being Sober of Holy

disciples of the Buddha who are not

drowned in drinking and smoking.

The Wisdom of Buddhism includes not

only the tremendous knowledge but also

the understanding of not creating

sufferings for self, for others and for all

beings.


140

A person who does not drink alcohol has

the knowledge of not giving sorrows to

oneself, others and both; this person is

wise and lucid.

The Virtue of Being Sober helps people

no longer be blindly drowned in smoking

cigarettes and drinking alcohol.

The disciples of the Buddha are the

disciples of the Wisdom, of the

Intelligence, of the Perspicacity.

Therefore, the Virtue of Being Sober is

such wisdom and perspicacity.

You have learned six virtues within the

five precepts. And so these virtues bring

tremendous benefits to your life. You


141

should think about the tremendous

benefits of the six virtues as mentioned

above. Is this right? If it is right, you

should join your hands in front of you and

vow that: “From now on, I promise to do

my best to follow the five precepts to

perform the six virtues of a true human

being; to deserve being a human and a

disciple of the Buddha”.

After your wish, make a bow to the

Buddha to accept the five precepts…And

now, I announce to end the ceremony of

Accepting the Three Jewels and Five

Precepts.

***


142

ADVICE

Dear all Buddhist followers! After the

ceremony of taking the Three Refuges

and accepting the Five Precepts, on

monthly basis you should come to the

monastery to practice the virtues and

conducts of a true human in a day. It

is the responsibility and obligation of

a Buddhist follower taking Three

Refuges and Five Precepts.

Only by learning the laws, principles,

virtues and conducts for true humans,

can you become people of right


143

virtues and conducts, without such

learning you cannot become virtuous

people. People without right virtues

could not become Buddhist followers.

Is this right?

Though you have taken the Three

Refuges and Five Precepts for 10 or

20 years, if you do not live in

accordance with the five precepts of

virtues and conducts, you are not a

disciple of the Buddha. As Buddhist

disciple means a child of the Buddha.

A child of the Buddha has to live with

virtues and could not be otherwise;

someone who lives like an ordinary


144

worldly person cannot be called

Buddhist disciple or one that has

already taken ceremony of taking

Three Refuges and Five Precepts. Is

this right?

A Buddhist disciple from the start of

entering Buddhism has to take the five

precepts i.e. to accept the five

precepts of virtues and conducts.

These five precepts of virtues and

conducts bring tremendous benefits

to the life of all those following the

steps of the Buddha. Therefore, you

need to learn and practice these five

precepts. Without learning and


145

practicing the five precepts of virtues

and conducts, you would never

deserve being a Buddhist disciple and

never become a Buddhist follower.

Dear all Buddhist followers! Taking

the Five Precepts means you have

accepted the five precepts. Accepting

the five precepts means accepting the

five virtues to be a true human, as

such you should not think little of and

overlook these virtues. Overlooking

these virtues means to miss priceless

things that could not be substituted by

anything in this world. Failing to

notice these virtues means huge


146

disadvantages in your life, and life

after life continuously you will

undergo lots of sufferings. Only by

holding tightly these five precepts can

you escape the animal nature to

become true human in Buddhism, to

be able to transform your evil karmic

debts created from many lives.

Thanks to that, you and your family

will be in peace and happiness.

These five precepts are not many;

they are not complicated, difficult,

and unattainable for human being,

they are not out of your reach. But

why don’t you keep them? They are


147

the five standards for one to become

a true human being. If any one of the

five is not met, the person still has

cruel nature of animals. Do you

notice this?

Take the Three Refuges and Five

Precepts means to practice to live in

goodness. To live in goodness means

to be able to transform the suffering

karma of self and family. Therefore,

when a person take the Three Refuges

and Five Precepts, both the person

and his or her family are in peace and

good health. In case of having taken

the Three Refuges and Five Precepts


148

for a long time but the person and

his/her family still get sickness from

time to time, having accidents quite

often and thus their life is in sadness,

restlessness, sufferings etc., this

means that the person has only taken

the Three Refuges and Five Precepts

for the sake of the ceremony, for the

form, for the name of a Buddhist

disciple etc. This means that to take

refuge in Buddhism but fail to

precisely follow Buddhist teachings.

You should do you best to learn,

improve yourself and live rightly

according to these virtues and


149

conducts so as not to be ungrateful to

the Buddha, to my teachings; to bring

peace to yourself, to others and to all

beings on this planet; to transform

this world into a world of Heaven, of

Highest Happiness.

With full respects,

Chon Nhu Monastery


150

Determined To Practice

Be determined to practice

without withdrawal in the life

time

Keep the body and mind in

peace and happiness

Reach to the state of

meditation, go beyond the

cause-and-effect

Attain the full enlightenment

and lead people to happiness.

Chon Nhu


151

Live Alone

He who sits alone, rests alone,

walks alone, unindolent, who

in solitude controls himself,

will find delight in the forest.

Dhammapāda


152

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE............................................................................ 4

PART 1: TAKING REFUGE IN THE THREE JEWELS ....... 10

FIRST – THE BUDDHA ................................................ 13

SECOND – THE DHARMA ........................................... 24

THIRD – THE SANGHA ............................................... 29

PART 2: OBSERVING THE FIVE PRECEPTS ................... 49

FIRST PRECEPT: NOT TO KILL ................................... 54

SECOND PRECEPT: NOT TO BE GREEDY AND

STEAL .......................................................................... 78

THIRD PRECEPT: NOT TO PERFORM SEXUAL

MISCONDUCT ............................................................. 93

FORTH PRECEPT: NOT TO TELL LIE .......................... 98

FIFTH PRECEPT: NOT TO DRINK ALCOHOL ........... 124

ADVICE ..................................................................... 142

(env 01300100)-three jewels and five precepts of buddhism

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