五戒
THE FIVE PRECEPTS
五戒就是不杀生、不偷盗、不邪淫、不妄语、不饮酒。《雜阿含经》卷三十三载： 云何名为優婆塞戒具足？ 应远离杀生、不与取、 邪淫， 妄语、饮酒等， 而不乐作，是名優婆塞戒具足。可见五戒是在家優婆塞、優婆夷应持守的戒律。
The Five Precepts are (exactly) no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no reckless speech, and no intoxicants. From the “Miscellaneous Commentaries”: “What can be called the sufficiency of the lay precepts? One must depart far from killing, and not steal, and commit no sexual misconduct, reckless speech, or drinking of liquor and so forth, to (the point that) one does not enjoy doing (those things); that is what is called the sufficiency of the lay precepts.” One can see that the Five Precepts are what must be recieved and held by laymen and lay women.
佛教的戒律虽然有出家戒、在家戒的区别、但是一切戒律都是依据五戒为根本，所以五戒又称为根本大戒。
Although Buddhist commandments can be distinguished into Lay Precepts and Ordained Precepts, still all commandments rely on the Five Precepts as a basis, so the Five Precepts are also called the Fundamental Great Precepts.
五戒的内容
The Substance of the Five Precepts
◎不杀生：就是不侵犯他人的生名。大至杀人，小至杀死蟑螂、老鼠、蚊蚁等，都是杀生。不过、佛教是一人为本的宗教，所以不杀生，主要是指不杀人。杀人是犯波罗夷 (机重罪), 是戒律中的根本大戒是不通忏悔的。如果杀死蟑螂、蚊蚁等，是犯突吉罗 (轻垢罪), 属于恶作, 虽然一样有罪, 但跟杀人不一痒。
No Killing: this is just not to violate the life and welfare of others. At worst this extends to human beings and less worse to cockroaches, vermin, mosquitos, ants and so forth. All these cases are (considered) killing. Nevertheless, Buddhism is a religion based on people, so the important point in the precept against killing is not to kill human beings.
此外浪费时间, 破坏物质, 也是杀生, 因为私生命是时间的累计, 所以浪费时间如同杀生; 相同的, 随便浪费物品也是杀生, 因为物品是大众的资源, 是大众集聚因缘而成的。
Besides this, to waste time or to destroy things is also killing, because our personal life force is accumulated over time, so wasting time is the same as killling, and in the same way, to casually waste material things is also killing, because material things are the resources of the masses ((or Great Assembly of Buddhist believers – xp)), and are brought about by the gathering together of the causes and conditions of the masses.
戒杀生, 主要是培养我们的慈悲心, 《涅盤经》说：「食肉者, 断大慈種, 行住坐卧, 一切众生闻其肉气悉生恐怖。」 所以佛教徒吃素主要是不忍心杀害鸡、鸭、猪、羊等动物的胜命， 是为了长样慈悲心。有人认为植物也有生命，但佛教认为动物有心识的反应, 而植物只有物理的反应, 因此吃素不算杀生。
In refraining from killing, the important thing is to cultivate our mind of compassion. The Nirvana Sutra says: “Those who eat meat cut off the great roots of compassion, and whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, all sentient beings concieve terror when they smell their fleshy vibration. So the importance of Buddhists eating vegetarian food is that we can’t stand the harming of the lives and welfare of such animals as chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep, and this is to enhance our heart of compassion. Some people think that material objects have life and welfare, but Buddhism recognizes that animals have a conscious response, and material objects only have a physical response, and because of this, vegetarianism isn’t considered killing.
◎不偷盗：就是不侵犯别人的财富。件但的说，不是自己的东西，未经许可便佔为己有，就是偷盗光天化日之下，强取他人的财物，便是偷窃。根据戒律，盗取价值五钱 〔古印度摩揭陀国铅笔单位〕以上的东西，这样的偷盗行为， 就犯了根本大戒。平时顺手取用公家的信纸、信封、原子筆等， 乃至借用东西未还，叫做不清静的行为， 虽然不是犯了根本戒，但还是要负因果责任的。在戒律中， 最难受持的戒律， 就是偷盗戒，因为凡将无主以外的东西，私自据为己有，就犯了盗戒。
No stealing: is just not to violate the wealth of others. Briefly, if it isn’t yours, to take possession of it as your own is just stealing in broad daylight. And to take the possessions of others by force is just to steal more conveniently. According to Buddhist commandments, behavior like stealing something worth moore than five dollars (according to the monetary units of the ancient Indian Magadha State) breaks the Fundamental Great Precept. The ordinary thoughtless confiscating of commonly-owned property such as paper, envelopes, and ballpoint pens, and even borrowing things but not returning them is called impure behavior, and although it does not break the Fundamental Precept, it certainly carries the burden of (karmic) consequences. Among the precepts the hardest to keep is just exactly the precept against stealing because, to take as our own things which are commonly considered ownerless breaks the precept against stealing.
◎不邪淫： 所谓邪淫，是指合法的夫妻关系以外的男女爱欲行为。例如强奸、嫖妓、重婚、诱拐、贩卖人口、妨碍家庭从事卖淫有伤社会风化的的行为、都犯了邪淫戒。至于心中恋慕某人、但未付诸行动虽然没有触犯根本戒， 但是心中不清静，烦恼妄想扰动，日子也不好过，而持戒的目的，主要是使身心清静。
No sexual misconduct: What is called sexual misconduct refers to passionate sexual behavior outside of lawful relations between man and wife. For example, such behaviors which harm social trends (lit: weather) as poligamy, abduction, human trafficking, breaking up families and forcing others to engage in prostitution, all break the precept with respect to sexual misconduct. Even in longing for a certain person, although it doesn’t offend the precept, still the heart is not pure, annoyance and agitation afflict, and one is restless through the day, whereas the most imortant goal of the precepts is to effect the purity of mind and body.
邪淫, 是社会混乱的导火线。例如乱伦，雏妓问题，是文明社会的地一大耻辱。他如同性恋衍生的爱滋病，更引起了廿世纪的大恐慌。如果人人都能持不邪淫戒，便不会发生这些问题，夫妻坚持不邪淫戒，则家庭是个和乐的家庭，是社会是个守礼的社会。
Sexual misconduct is a fuse for setting off social disorder。 For example, chaotic relationships and the prostitution of children are a huge disgrace in a civilized society. If people keep the precept against sexual misconduct, then these problems will not be able to occur. If wives strictly keep the precept with respect to sexual misconduct, then they will have happy and harmonious households, and that society will be a society which maintains propriety.
◎不妄语： 妄语，就是说虚妄不实的话，包括挑拨里间的两舌、恶害伤人的恶口、期满不实的妄言、阿谀奉承的綺语。妄语依其性质又可分为；大妄语、小妄语、方便妄语三种。
No reckless speech: Reckless speech is to speak absurd and untrue words, including duplicity involved in inciting dishormony, evil and hurtful slander, absurdities about false expiration dates, and the flowery language of obsequious flattery. Reckless speech also can be divided on the basis of its characteristics into; major reckless speech, minor reckless speech, and expedient reckless speech.
大妄语； 指没有证果的人，说证果了，没有得到神通，说得神通了。此种未证谓证‘未得谓得，是属于大妄语的行为。另外说四众的过失，尤其说出家二众的过失，也犯了严重的根本大戒。
Major reckless speech; refers to those who have not certified to the fruits (of Buddhist practice) saying that they have certified, and those who do not have spiritual powers saying that they have spiritual powers. This kind of false certification and false attainments falls under the behavior of ‘major reckless speech.’ Besides that, speaking of the defects of the Four Assemblies, especially the two left-home Assemblies, also violates the severe Fundamental Great Precept.
小妄语： 见言不见，不见言见；是说非，非说是；乃至知而不言，不知而言， 这些都属于妄语。
Minor reckless speech: saying that you didn’t see what you saw, that you saw what you didn’t see, saying that true is false and false is true, up to not saying what you know and saying what you do not know, these all fall under minor reckless speech.
方便妄语： 就是俗称的善意的欺骗。比如医生为护及绝症病人的情绪，因此隐瞒实际病情，这种为别人利益著想而说的妄语，就是方便妄语。
Expedient reckless speech: expedient reeckless speech is what is commonly called well-intentioned deception. For example, a doctor wants to protect the patient’s feelings, so (s)he conceals the real medical condition. This kind of reckless speech which comes of considering the benefit of others is expedient reckelss speech.
◎不饮酒：虽然明指为酒，但是凡能刺激神经，使人丧失理智、败坏德行的东西，诸如大麻、鸦片、安非他命、速赐糖、强力胶、吗啡、红中百般等， 都是不饮酒戒所要戒除的。
No intoxicants: Although this clearly refers to liquor, it is in general anything that can irritate the nerves, cause people to lose their rationality, and ruin the way of virtue, such as marijuana, opium, amphetamines, speed, “high-strength adhesive” (强力胶), morphine, “every possible way in the red” (红中百般) etc. All of these are things that are forbidden by the precept against intoxicants.`
五戒中的前四戒，所禁戒的行为本质就是罪恶，因此称为性戒；不饮酒戒是佛教五戒的特色，酒的本质虽非罪恶，但是饮酒容易引起世人诽谤或诱发其他的性罪，因此称为遮戒。
In the first four of the five precepts, the intrinsic quality of the behaviors that are forbidden is evil, and because of this they are called inherent precepts. The precept against intoxicants is a unique characteristic of the Buddhist five precepts. Although the intrinsic quality of liquor is not evil, nevertheless drinking liquor can lead to people in the world slandering or provoking other inherent faults, and for this reason it is called the covering precept.
《大毗婆娑经》卷百二十三印度有位優婆塞，由于饮酒，於是盗取邻居的鸡，犯了偷盗戒；烹杀做为酒菜，犯了杀生戒；邻妇问起，他妄言没看见鸡，犯了妄语戒；此时又见邻妇貌美，非礼她，犯了邪淫戒。喝酒使人无惭无愧、丧失理智，由於喝酒而造下杀、盗、淫、妄等四重罪，所以应该戒除喝酒。
The 123th scroll of the “Great Trillion Sutra” says that in India there was a layman who drank liquor to the point that he stole his neighbor’s chicken, breaking the precept with respect to stealing. He boiled it to death to eat with his liquor, breaking the precept against killing. When the neighbor’s woman asked about it, he said that he never saw the chicken, breaking the precept against reckless speech. At that time, he also saw the beauty of the neighbor’s woman, and was without propriety towards her, breaking the precept against sexual misconduct. Drinking liquor makes people have no shame and no regret, and to lose their rationality, so drinking liquor becomes the antecedent of the serious offenses of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, reckless speech, and so forth. Therefore, one must eschew intoxicants.
佛教是重般若智慧的宗教，唯有戒酒才能使神智清楚，理路清晰，智慧明朗。
Buddhism is a religion that emphasizes Prajnya wisdom, and it is only with the precept against intoxicants that spiritual knowledge is clear, the path of principle is distinct, and wisdom is bright.
受持五戒的利益
The Benefits of the Five Precepts
受持五戒是人道的根本，五戒与儒家的五常有相同的处。五常就是仁、义、礼、智、信。不杀曰仁、不盗曰义、不淫曰礼、大妄曰信、不酒曰智。一个人受持五戒，会有无尽的利益。《灌顶经》卷三说；我们受持五戒，必感得廿五善神的护佑。《月灯三昧经》卷六记载，持戒清静者能获得十種利益； 1 满足一切智， 2 如佛所学而学， 3 智者而不毁， 4 不退誓愿， 5 按住於行， 6 弃捨生死， 7 慕乐捏要， 8 得无缠心， 9 得胜三昧， 10 不乏心财。
To recieve and hold the five precepts is the basis of the human path, and the five precepts have something in common with the “Five Constants” of the Confucianists. No killing is called “benevolence,” no stealing is called “justice,” no sexual misconduct is called “propriety,” no reckless speech is called “true,” and no intoxicants is called “wise.” When a person recieves and keeps the five precepts, he can attain inexhaustible benefit. The third scroll of the “Anointing the Crown Sutra” (灌顶经) says: When taking the five precepts, we must feel the support of the twenty-five good (protector) spirits. The sixth scroll of the Samadhiraja Chandrapradipa Sutra (月灯三昧经) rrecords that: those who keep pure precepts can attain ten kinds of benefit: 1. eloquence with respect to all wisdom, 2. learning as the Buddha learned, 3. indestrictible wisdom, 4. non-retrogresson from vows, 5. being constant and steady in practice, 6. renunciation of birth and death, 7. being attracted to bliss but annihilating wants, 8. attaining an unfettered mind (heart), 9. conquering samadhi, 10. not lacking riches of the heart.
此外，如果我们不杀生而护生，自然能获得健康长寿；不偷盗而布施，自然能发财享受富贵；不邪淫而尊重他人的名节，自然家庭和谐美满；不妄语而赞叹他人，自然能获得善名美誉；不喝酒而远离毒品的诱惑，自然身体健康，智慧清明。
Besides those, if we do not kill but protect life, then naturally we will reap health and long life. If we do not steal but give charitably, naturally we can become wealthy and enjoy riches and honor. If we do not pract practice sexual misconduct by honor the reputation and welfare of others, then naturally our households will be harmonious and happy. If we do not speak recklessly and highly priase others then naturally we will reap a good name and reputation. If we do not drink liquor and stay far away from the temptations of narcotics, naturally our physical health will be solid and our wisdom will be bright and clear.
所以受持五戒，现世可以免除苦恼、恐怖，可以获得身心的自由、平安、和谐、快乐；将来可以免堕三涂恶道， 得人天果报，乃而成佛。受持五戒，如同在福田里播了种，总是不求，自然有许多利益加身，自然享有无尽的功德善报。
So by recieving and holding the five precepts, one can avoid frustration and terror in this life, and can gain in dependence, peace, harmony, and happiness of mind and body; in the future one can escape from the three evil paths, attain the indepedence, peace, harmony and happiness of the mind and body; in the future one can escape from the three evil paths; attain as a result the fruit of men and heavenly beings, even to the attainment of Buddhahood. To recieve and hold the five precepts is just like sowing seeds in a fertile field; it always then happens that, without asking, many benefits are added on, and naturally one can enjoy inexhaustible meritorious good results
五戒的受持
Recieving and Holding the Five Precepts
受持五戒是尽形寿受持，非一日一夜受持而已。受戒可以全部受持，也可以随分受持。如《十住心论》* 卷二引《大智度论》说：「戒有五种始从不杀，乃至不饮酒。若受一戒是名一分，若受二、三戒是明少分、若受四戒是明多分，五戒是名满分。于此分中，欲受何分，常随意受之。
*《十住心论》”Commentary on the Ten Abiding Minds” This is a Japanese Shingon commentary, and its POV was criticized by the Sixth Patriarch of the Chinese Ch’an School as eternalist:
【 住心 】 《 佛学大词典 》
行者安住于道之心相。日僧空海尝依大日经入真言门住心品而立真言宗十住心，即：异生羝羊心、愚童持斋心、婴童无畏心、唯蕴无我心、拔业因种心、他缘大乘心、觉心不生心、一道无为心、极无自性心、秘密庄严心。
又若收摄一己之心，使之镇定，成为无念之状态，称为‘住心观静’。然据六祖坛经所载，六祖曾谓住心观静为‘是病非禅’，而排斥此类‘看心坐禅’之立场。（参阅‘十住心’431）
To return to the main text:
Recieving and holding the five precepts is a matter of exhausting one’s lifespan; it is not for one day and one night. In recieving the Precepts, one can recieve them completely, or one can recieve them by parts. As the second scroll of the “Commentary on the Ten Abiding Minds” says, drawing from the Mahaprajnyaparamita Sutra: “As to precepts, there are five kinds from that with respect killing to that with respect to taking intoxicants. Taking one precept is called taking one portion, taking two or three precepts is called taking a small portion, taking four precepts is called taking a large portion, and taking five precepts is called taking a full portion.
由此可知，在家居士人人可就自己的情况，选择自己容易受持的一戒、二戒、乃至三戒、四戒， 精进受持，渐渐达到五戒圆满。甚至进一步受持八关齐戒、菩萨戒等，如此自然能得增上生，能得决定胜果，乃至大乘佛果。
From this we know that laymen living at home can redeem their own circumstances, choosing whatever one, two, three, or four precepts are easy to recievbe and hold, and by recieving and holding them diligently, they can gradually come to the five complete precepts. It can go as far as taking a step forward to the eight precepts, Bodhisattva precepts. In this way, one can attain a better rebirth, and certify to victorious fruition, even to the fruition of Buddhahood.
((Translation completed on 3 Mar 09 vshr))
Maitreyayana 