Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Eight Purifying Precepts (八齋戒)
Transmigrating in the Five Realms is like falling into the mud. Cravings and desires bind us. Lack of wisdom brings confusion.
In life, we may be busy doing many things, but we remain within the Five Realms. I often say, once we fall into the Five Realms, extricating ourselves is very difficult because the sea [of birth and death] is vast and endless. How did we fall into the Five Realms? By not upholding precepts.
Earlier we talked about valuing precepts and discipline. If we do not uphold precepts and are undisciplined, then a small mistake will cause us to fall. Once we fall into the sea of the Five Realms, escape is out of reach. It is also like to falling into the mud.
Earlier, we also talked about mud. Mud is soft; we step into it and sink. If we fall into water, we can swim to shore or be seen by others and be rescued in time. That is not possible in mud. If we fall into it we will sink and be immobilized. Why do people remain confused? They do not listen to Dharma. If we listen to more Dharma, we will more or less know what we should not do. We recognize traps and are self-aware. So, if we listen to the Dharma, we learn to transcend ignorance, confusion and delusion.
But if we do not know the Dharma, our actions do not follow the principles. In this way we are like a person who cannot escape from the mud. Others cannot rescue us, either. Worldly cravings and desires entangle and bind us. Think about it. How many people in the world have greedy thoughts? When greed arises, it binds us like a rope. There is no way to escape. It is like a worm weaving a cocoon around itself; it has no idea when it can escape. This is truly difficult. Lack of wisdom brings confusion. Those without wisdom are very ignorant.
Everyone, we have heard the truth, but we are still bound, because we lack wisdom. Although we are smart, we are not wise. Without wisdom we remain ignorant. Even if others counsel or advise us, we still cannot wake up. So, we ignore Dharma, do not uphold precepts, bind ourselves with greed, and oppress ourselves with ignorance. Then we cannot transcend life and death, or the mud, or our bonds, or ignorance and confusion. This happens because we do not uphold precepts.
“We may break the Eight Purifying Precepts, the Five or Seven Categories of Precepts, or uphold them incompletely. When we break the Upasaka-precepts, we create mild and severe bad karma.”
This passage applies to lay practitioners. But the Five and Seven Categories of Precepts apply to monastic practitioners. Right now I am talking about lay precepts, the Eight Purifying Precepts.
Some lay practitioners uphold and practice the Eight Precepts. What are the Eight Precepts?
Eight Precepts:
1. No killing. 2.No taking what is not given. 3.No sexual misconduct. 4.No speaking falsely. 5.No drinking alcohol 6.No cosmetics, jewelry, dancing or singing. 7.No sleeping on luxurious bedding. 8.No eating outside the designated time.
Among the eight are the Five Precepts, like not killing and not stealing. Taking what is not given is stealing. No sexual misconduct. Not speaking falsely means not lying. No drinking alcohol applies to all alcohol. No matter what kind of alcohol, whether made from fruit, of from rice, etc., all forms of alcohol are forbidden. These are the Five Precepts. Sixth is no cosmetics and jewelry. Do not wear makeup and do not embellish your appearance, especially on days you observe precepts. On purifying days we eat a strict vegetarian diet. There are Six Purification Days a month when we should not wear makeup, perfume, jewelry, etc. On these six days we do not adorn ourselves. That is a way of demonstrating our sincerity.
The Six Purification Days are “Posadha” in Sanskrit. This means nurturing and purifying. These days nurture the Good Dharma and help purify all of our actions.
In the past there was a queen. Her king sent a merchant overseas to obtain treasures . When the merchant returned from abroad, he presented agarwood incense to the king. It was very valuable and fragrant. The king had many wives, but he wanted to give the present to his favorite wife. Lady Mallika.
He called her forth to accept it. This was a great honor for her and showed the king’s favor. But it was a Purification Day and she was a very devout Buddhist who upheld the precepts. She wore no makeup or jewelry that day. She looked simple and clean.
She said, “I am made up, so I cannot go see the king. Appearing thus to see the king would be discourteous.”
The king insisted on seeing her. But she held firm. The king got angry. He went to her room and saw her looking very simple and asked, “Why didn’t you obey my orders? You look so simple today. Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, today is a Purification Day.”
“Why do you need to observe this precept?”
So she explained the Buddha’s Dharma to him.
“That makes sense, but if you follow it, you are restricted.”
So, the king did not want her to uphold precepts.
But she explained the Dharma to him with wisdom. No matter how the king pressured her, saying she must formally accept his gift that day, she held firm. She would rather be punished by the king than not uphold precepts on a Purification Day.
So the king said, “Then I will punish you.”
She faced the direction of the Buddha, who was at Jetavana Grove, put her palms together and prayed that He would give her more strength. It was she who had made the king angry; it was not his fault. This was her fault. She had insisted on upholding the precepts, so he became angry and created karma of speech. She prayed that the Buddha would forgive him.
The king stood by and saw her great determination. Nothing could destroy her will to practice and uphold the precepts. Standing there, he thought her simplicity was more beautiful than heavy makeup. He watched her and became very happy and more respectful and loving. That respect and love arose at the same time.
So, do women really need to be heavily made up? Not necessarily. Do they need to be covered head to toe with many precious jewels? Is this necessary? Probably not. True beauty lies in dignity. Simplicity and dignity are true forms of beauty, and truly worthy of respect.
So on the Six Purification Days, six days a month, do not wear cosmetics or jewelry. Jewelry refers to accessories. Cosmetics refer to face powder, eyebrow pencils, or any other makeup. This precept refers to cosmetics and adornment, and wearing bright clothing, many accessories. In India they wear flowers and many accessories that make noise. But on those six days, they remove all those items. There will be no cosmetics, jewelry, or listening to or watching singing and dancing on those six days. Places of entertainment can defile the mind. So they do not watch or listen to dance or music.
The seventh is to not sleep on luxurious bedding. Beds do not need to be fancy or large. Nowadays people sleep in big and wide beds that are elaborate and comfortable. Some people can simple sleep on a bench. Look at those living in poverty; they simple sleep in a communal bed with grass. The bottom is a slab of bamboo or wood. Perhaps it is already damaged. The entire family squeezes onto a bed. Some people live that way.
But others sleep alone in a very big bed. They want one made with good materials. Some beds cost a couple thousand dollars [NT], others cost tens or hundreds of thousands. Is that necessary? No. Think about those who are poor and suffering. Think about those who wander or are homeless. Why care so much about a bed and spend that much money? Can’t we help a lot people with that money?
To foster our compassion and develop our wisdom, we must not become lost in that type of lifestyle. Do not spend a lot of money on pleasures, entertainment or personal adornments. So we add these three rules to the Five Precepts to get the rules we must uphold in those six days.
Eating within the designated time is fasting. Normally people say, “Do not eat after noon.” During the Buddha’s time, monastics did not eat after noon because they had to collect alms. Some villages were far from where they practiced. Collect alms once a day took a long time. India in particular was a very hot place. To make life simpler, the Buddha limited monastics to one meal at noon. They left in the morning and arrived around noontime, when food was about ready. They would collect alms and quickly eat somewhere close by. When they returned to the abode, it was past noon. It would depend on how far away the villages were. If it was close they returned to eat their place of practice. But no matter what, they ate one meal by noon. This applied to monastics, but lay practitioners should live like them for six days a month. So they have to uphold the purifying precepts. I hope all lay practitioners can experience these six days a month.
As you practice Buddhism, do not say it is enough to uphold the Five Precepts as a lay practitioner. Sometimes you should also experience the pure body and mind of a monastic. Lay practitioners can live pure, simple lives like monastics for at least six a month. These are the Purifying Precepts. If they can do this, they will draw close to the right path, close to the Noble Path.
Everyone, there are lay and monastic Buddhist practitioners. The Five and Seven Categories of Precepts are the rules for monastics. We can see them in the Book of Precepts. Rules and precepts are essential to Buddhism, essential for nurturing our minds. When our bodies and minds are pure, we can truly transcend the Five Realms and avoid falling into the mud, being tied by ropes, being confused, or accumulating ignorance and confusion every day. Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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