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Buddhist Ethics

Human beings live in a society
Each person has his/her own needs and can come in conflict with others who have the same
needs and wants
Every human being is self-centred and selfish
So we need to consider ethics: How should we live and treat one another?
Goodness will prevent us coming into conflict with others.

It is important for us to understand what is good and what is bad?
ETHICS : What is "good" and "bad."
MORALITY : Human actions judged as good or bad.
MORAL : Action that is good and right (kusal)
IM-MORAL : Action that is bad and wrong (akusal)

Buddhist Ethics are based on the enlightened perspective of the Buddha.

The Buddha said: Whatever leads to happiness is good, and what ever leads to unhappiness is
what is bad. Explaining further, the Buddha said, whatever leads to happiness of oneself and
others is what leads to happiness, and whatever that leads to unhappiness of oneself and others
is what leads to unhappiness.

The Buddha when he addressed a group of householders to explain the ethical principle of
self-reference" (attupanaika dhammapariyaya).
-This means to regard others as oneself.
-Just as we do not like to be harmed, others too do not like to be harmed. Therefore we should
not harm others.

For example:
If someone steals from me I wont like it. In the same way others wont like it.
So, I will not steal.
So good ethical actions are based on loving kindness (metta), or a concern for others happiness
and welfare, which is equal to that of one's own. So the Buddhist five precepts are not based on
punishment and reward, which is selfish. If we behave well out of a consideration for others,
then it is not selfish but self-centred.

Roots of bad and good behaviours

Roots of unworthy or bad behaviour
(akusala mula)
Roots of worthy or good behaviour
(kusala mula)
1. Lust or attraction to pleasure (lobha) 1. Non-lust or non-attraction to pleasure (alobha)
2. Hate or repulsion to pain (dosa) 2. Non-hate or non-repulsion to pain (adosa)
3. Confusion or delusion (moha) 3. Non-confusion or non-delusion (amoha)

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"Non-" means that good actions are performed by working against bad or evil tendencies in the
mind

The Buddha said, Motive or intention (cetana), is what I call kamma. The goodness
of the action is important, not only good consequences:

Good thoughts Good feelings Good actions.
Bad thoughts Bad feelings Bad actions

Kamma (good or bad) is committed at all thee levels: Thinking, feeling and acting


What other things protect us from doing bad?

1. Hiri and Ottappa:

Hiri = Moral Shame which prevents us from doing bad things
Ottappa = Moral Fear which prevents us from doing bad things by thinking about the bad
results of wrong-doing.

2. A moral person has knowledge and awareness of moral conduct.
Consider an innocent baby who has no knowledge or awareness of morals. He/she is not a
moral person.

3. There are two other words that are used in discussing Buddhist ethics. They are pua
and ppa. Pua is understood as morally good actions, however in pua, one does
what is good expecting some sort of personal benefit, either here or here after, and
avoids what is bad in fear of punishment. So, pua is a reward-and-punishment-
oriented morality. Ppa is immoral actions. According to Buddhism, morally good or bad
actions are neither rewarded or punished. They have their consequences according to the
operation of karmic law.






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The five- precepts:
These precepts general guides to show how we can behave to live peacefully in
society. The five precepts also address the most dangerous behaviours that we as
humans must avoid.

1) I undertake the training principle to avoid harming the life of beings.
2) I undertake the training principle to avoid taking things not given.
3) I undertake the training principle to avoid sensual/sexual misconduct.
4) I undertake the training principle to refrain from false speech. As well as avoiding
lying and deceiving, this precept covers slander as well as speech which is not beneficial to
the welfare of others.
5) I undertake the training principle to abstain from substances which cause
intoxication and heedlessness (negligence, recklessness)? This precept is in a special
category as it does not infer any intrinsic evil in, say, alcohol itself but indulgence in such a
substance could be the cause of breaking the other four precepts and any doing any other
immoral acts.

Key words here are I and training principle think about it!

There are five opposites of the five precepts:
Precepts are about not doing bad things. But the Buddha has also taught us about doing good
things (the opposite of precepts):
Avoiding evil Doing good
Refraining from harming living beings Practicing loving kindness
Refraining from taking the non-given Practicing generosity
Refraining from committing sensual/sexual misconduct Practicing contentment
Refraining from false speech Practicing truthful communication
Refraining from intoxicants Practicing mindfulness



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Comparison of Buddhist moral teachings and theistic moral teachings:


Vinaya

Lay Buddhists follow the "Five Precepts".

The Buddhist monks and nuns follow (Sangha), 220 to 304 rules according to the Theravada tradition.
These rules are contained in the Vinaya or first collection of the Buddhist scriptures.










Buddhist way to ethics

Thou shall obey
my
commandments


God oriented ethics
If someone steals from me
I wont like it. In the same
way others wont like it. So,
I will not steal.
Therefore I undertake the
training principle of


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T Th he e N No ob bl le e E Ei ig gh ht t- -f fo ol ld d P Pa at th h a an nd d B Bu ud dd dh hi is st t E Et th hi ic cs s

The three phases of the Buddhist path sila-samadhi-paa are found in the Noble Eight-fold
Path, as shown below:


Sila is the control or stopping of bad actions or behaviour expressed by speech and bodily
actions.
Once we have restrained or controlled our bad behaviour we are still left with the feelings or
emotions and the thoughts that triggered the urge to act in a certain way.

Taking control of our emotions can be achieved by attaining various states of mental purity
called Samadhi. It can be accomplished through forms of meditation that fall under Samatha
meditation.

After our emotions are calmed and the mind is purified temporarily we can become aware of the
thought process. This can be achieved through Vipassana meditation, which leads to a
special form of wisdom (Paa).

The place of kamma in the above scheme of things is at the thinking level and can take the form
of the six roots:

Bad actions (akusala kamma) are based on greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha)
Good (kusala kamma) are based on generosity (alobha), love (adosa) and self-less wisdom
(amoha).

The Buddha does not merely give rules to be obeyed without question but he defines what is good
and bad and explains why they should be followed. In other words, he gives an excellent explanation
for his teachings. T Th he e B Bu ud dd dh hi is st t w wa ay y i is s t to o t tr ra ai in n p pe eo op pl le e t to o d do o g go oo od d a an nd d b be e g go oo od d. The Buddha also
teaches the method by which it can be done.
Noble Eight-fold Path
Three phases of the Buddhist Path
1. Right View
Paa or Penetrative Wisdom Gain wisdom and
understand reality
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
Sila or Ethical Conduct Stop bad actions by
speech and body
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
Samadhi or Purification of mind Calm and purify the
mind of bad thoughts
and feelings: greed;
anger; fear; desires
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration