Hello. In this programme we’ll talk about how to stay young for free, and how to free ourselves from being slaves of our desires and bad habits, and what the Five Precepts and the Ten Virtues are. Before going into the details, perhaps we need to first of all clear some confusion or misconception. Many people do not like the idea of self-discipline or self-control. They feel that self-discipline takes away their freedom. Is it really the case though?

Listen to my teacher’s original lecture: Five Precepts and Ten Virtues.

Listen to the podcast in English: Coming soon…

Have we ever thought about for how long we’ve become the slaves of our desires, desires for particular food we like, desires for driving expensive cars, desires for clothes we want to buy? Why do we used the word ‘slave’ to describe it? Well, can you recall any occasion where you could not get something you wanted? How did it make you feel? Did it make you angry? Did it make you sleepless? What did you say and do? What was the impact of what you said and did to people around you? Did it have negative impacts on your work and daily life? Was your mind so much occupied by it and you forgot to do something important? Just by reflecting on ourselves, we can perhaps realise that we have been the slaves, but not the masters, of our desires, bad habits and emotions, for too long. Also, have we ever noticed that our desires are speeding up the process of ageing?

The Five Precepts and the Ten Virtues are there to free ourselves from being enslaved or imprisoned by our desires and bad habits, help us return to our good and tranquil original nature, and help us be the masters of everything generated by us, such as our desires, our habits, good or bad, and our emotions, and help us stay young for free.

The Ten Virtues are not really precepts. They are actually good actions. They are the standards for good and bad, something that everyone should practise in daily life. The Five Precepts are specifically for those who want to return to and rely on the Triple Jewels. For those of us who have decided to become Buddhas’ students, we must follow the Five Precepts. So, what are the Five Precepts?  

No killing. No stealing. No sexual misconduct. No lying. No intoxicants. These Five Precepts are the fundamental precepts, and we must abide by and practise them. If a Buddhist does not follow and practise the Five Precepts, they are only a Buddhist by name, but not a real Buddhist, not a real student of Buddhas. As for the Ten Virtues, the reason why they are not called precepts is that they are part of our original nature. In other words, the Ten Virtues are part of us. The Chinese say that the original nature of human beings is good. The Ten Virtues are part of the original nature of a human being. The first three of the Ten Virtues are the same as the first three of the Five Precepts, i.e., no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct. These are three virtues related to the body.  

As for virtues related to the mouth, there are four of them. No lying, no divisive speech, no enticing speech, and no foul speech. Divisive speech is words that cause others to argue or fight. We must not do that. Enticing speech is words that are pleasing to the ear but are actually used to deceive others for self-interest. We must not do that. Foul speech is rude words that make others feel awful. So, no lying, no divisive speech, no enticing speech and no foul speech are the four virtues related to the mouth. Why are there four of them? Because the mouth is the quickest at making mistakes.

As for the mind, there are three virtues. No greed. No anger. No ignorance [of sages’ teachings]. We must practise all these ten virtues. For lay Buddhist practitioners, the Ten Virtues are the basic requirements. For ordained Buddhist practitioners, the basic requirements for them are what’s recorded in the book Rules and Rites for Sramanera or 沙彌律儀 in Chinese. In that book there are 10 precepts and 24 rites, all of which a Buddhist monk must follow. If a Buddhist does not follow those precepts, they are a fake Buddhist, in other words, a fake student of Buddhas. They say they are, but Buddhas do not accept them as their students’.

So, to help ourselves and others, we must put into practise the Five Precepts and the Ten Virtues in our daily lives. All of us must practise them, especially the Ten Virtues. If we can truly practise those precepts, even if we have never done the ritual of returning to and relying on the Three Jewels, and even if we say we are not a Buddhist, Buddhas will still acknowledge that we are their students. Why is it? Because we do practise Buddhas’ teachings.

So, cultivating ourselves, in other words, correcting our thoughts, speech and actions, has standards. The Five Precepts and the Ten Virtues are the standards of learning Buddhism and practising Buddhas’ teachings. We must follow these standards, must practise these virtues. Practise them. Diligently and truly practise them in daily life.

From birth up until now, we have acquired lots of new habits, good or bad, probably more bad habits than good ones. Habits of how to think, habits of how to speak, habits of how to behave.

Practising the Ten Virtues is a process of fostering new sets of good habits. In fact, they are not new to us, they’re part of our original nature. It’s just that we’ve completely forgotten about them. So, we feel as if it’s hard to follow them. In that case, think like this. It’s like learning how to ride a bike. At the beginning, it took us lots of efforts. But we persevered, after lots of practice, riding a bike eventually becomes our second nature and we enjoy the great delight of riding a bike.

It’s the same with practising the Ten Virtues. At the beginning, we might find it challenging because our bad habits are so deep-rooted. It made us feel as if the bad habits are natural and the Ten Virtues are not. But we must know that it is NOT the case. We must understand that the Ten Virtues are part of our original nature whereas our bad habits, such as getting angry, being arrogant, are something acquired over countless previous lives and this life. Once we have this correct understanding, so long as we persevere, after a long while, one year, two years, three years, or twenty years, practising the Ten Virtues will eventually become natural to us. This is because we will gradually remove the dust of bad habits and retrieve our original nature. And we will enjoy the true happiness and tranquillity from within.

I know, it’s not easy to get rid of deep-rooted bad habits. My teacher suggested us to start with The Guidelines for Being a Good Person 弟子規 and The Most Revered One’s Treatise on the Law of Cause and Effect 太上感應篇.

Wishing whoever reads this post good mental and physical health, peace, harmony, auspiciousness, happiness, long life and infinite wisdom. Thank you.

   

DEDICATION

The effort and gains of explaining, transmitting and listening to Buddhas’ teachings are dedicated to:

the entire Universe and all beings of all dimensions and all existences. May they all listen to Buddhas’ teachings, awaken to the truth of the Universe, be mindful of the name ‘Amituofo’ (Amitabha Buddha),

aspire to go to the Pure Land, and become Buddhas. (Read the above three times)

I pray to Buddhas and bodhisattvas for unconditionally solving all man-made and natural disasters around the globe.

For all of those who died in man-made wars and natural disasters across the world,

and for all of those who are related to me in all kinds of ways in this life and previous lives, may they listen to Buddhas’ teachings. May they awaken to the truth of the Universe, aspire to unearth their innate and most sincere, pure, equal and awakened mind, be single-mindedly mindful of Amituofo, aspire to go to the Pure Land so as to see Amituofo and listen to his teachings, removing all their delusions and unveiling their innate wisdom, gaining the real peace and happiness, instantly escaping from the cycle of birth and death, speedily becoming Buddhas, and helping all beings (in the entire Universe) like all other Buddhas.

The effort and gains are dedicated to the leaders of all countries on the Earth. May all countries be prosperous. May all disasters be solved. May the world enjoy eternal peace. I use the effort and gains to return the help from the enlightenment of Buddhas, by the correctness of Buddhas’ teachings, from the purity of sangha, from all beings, from my parents (in this life and previous lives), and from my country(ies). I also use the effort and gains to help alleviate the suffering of those who are already in and will be reborn into the animal realm, the ghost realm and hells as the result of their bad thoughts, speech and deeds. For anyone who sees and hears me chanting or being mindful of Amituofo and doing other good deeds, may they aspire to unearth their most sincere, pure, equal and awakened mind so as to go to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, together with me, at the end of our present lives.