Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism

Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Refrain from killing
14
40%
Refrain from stealing
0
No votes
Refrain from sexual misconduct
2
6%
Refrain from lying
16
46%
Refrain from intoxicants
3
9%
 
Total votes: 35

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DooDoot
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Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by DooDoot »

Dear forum

As often occurs, I have noticed many topics of late with a strong focus upon non-killing of small creatures & parasites.

There are five precepts.

Which precept do we each think is most important, most difficult &/or most advantageous to get right for bringing the Noble Eightfold into fruition?

:group:
Last edited by DooDoot on Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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lyndon taylor
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by lyndon taylor »

According to a lay leader and former monk at my local temple, Sobriety is the most important, because lack of sobriety leads to breaking all the other precepts, makes sense to me, and I notice, its the most likely precept people want to make excuses for not keeping, figures!!
18 years ago I made one of the most important decisions of my life and entered a local Cambodian Buddhist Temple as a temple boy and, for only 3 weeks, an actual Therevada Buddhist monk. I am not a scholar, great meditator, or authority on Buddhism, but Buddhism is something I love from the Bottom of my heart. It has taught me sobriety, morality, peace, and very importantly that my suffering is optional, and doesn't have to run my life. I hope to give back what little I can to the Buddhist community, sincerely former monk John

http://trickleupeconomictheory.blogspot.com/
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

I selected lying, because Dhamma is the truth, and lying and falsehood is the polar opposite of the truth.

Yes, all the others are bad, and are manifestations of ignorance, greed, and aversion... but since lying takes you in the polar opposite direction to the Dhamma, lying and a lack of personal integrity are likely to make the other precepts more difficult to follow too.

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by DNS »

lyndon taylor wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:41 am According to a lay leader and former monk at my local temple, Sobriety is the most important, because lack of sobriety leads to breaking all the other precepts, makes sense to me, and I notice, its the most likely precept people want to make excuses for not keeping, figures!!
I remember that story, it goes something like:

A monk is given a choice of doing only one of the following and there are no options for refusing:

1. Kill a goat and eat it.
2. Have sex with a prostitute.
3. Drink a bottle of whiskey.

Most people would answer #3, drink the whiskey, since it seems to cause the least harm, least breaking of important precepts. The problem is the monk drank the whiskey and while drunk, killed the goat, ate it and had sex with the prostitute.

(according to that story)

Personally, I think non-killing is the most important. A person could lie to me, steal from me; but at least I'd still be alive.
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,
DNS wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:57 am Personally, I think non-killing is the most important. A person could lie to me, steal from me; but at least I'd still be alive.
True, but as the precept could be interpreted to extend to "small creatures & parasites", as per the OP, this is a really hard one to assess...

If it relates to the killing of people, I agree that it's the worst action morally.

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by Kim OHara »

retrofuturist wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:56 am Greetings,

I selected lying, because Dhamma is the truth, and lying and falsehood is the polar opposite of the truth.

Yes, all the others are bad, and are manifestations of ignorance, greed, and aversion... but since lying takes you in the polar opposite direction to the Dhamma, lying and a lack of personal integrity are likely to make the other precepts more difficult to follow too.

Metta,
Paul. :)
My choice too, and for the same reasons.

:namaste:
Kim
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by SarathW »

All five precepts should be practiced in tandem.
You may not kill but you can make someone's life miserable to a point s/he wish for the death.
There are people who do not consume alcohol but they still can involve in heinous crimes.
Right mindfulness (free from alcohol) required for the understanding of noble eightfold path.
Angulimala was a criminal but he was not drunk.
So I voted fifth precept.

David beat me with the story.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19594&start=20#p275494
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by chownah »

The most important precept is the one which at the time you are tempted to breach.
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by SarathW »

The most important precept is the one which at the time you are tempted to breach.
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by lyndon taylor »

How many of the people that picked not killing eat animals??
18 years ago I made one of the most important decisions of my life and entered a local Cambodian Buddhist Temple as a temple boy and, for only 3 weeks, an actual Therevada Buddhist monk. I am not a scholar, great meditator, or authority on Buddhism, but Buddhism is something I love from the Bottom of my heart. It has taught me sobriety, morality, peace, and very importantly that my suffering is optional, and doesn't have to run my life. I hope to give back what little I can to the Buddhist community, sincerely former monk John

http://trickleupeconomictheory.blogspot.com/
Bundokji
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by Bundokji »

chownah wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:55 am The most important precept is the one which at the time you are tempted to breach.
chownah
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by Bundokji »

I also chose not lying for similar reasons stated by Paul. I also believe that this particular precept can be divided as both internal and external and the former is even more important (self deception).
And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!"

This was the last word of the Tathagata.
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by unveiledartist »

DooDoot wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:31 am Dear forum

As often occurs, I have noticed many topics of late with a strong focus upon non-killing of small creatures & parasites.

There are five precepts.

Which precept do we each think is most important, most difficult &/or most advantageous to get right for bringing the Noble Eightfold into fruition?

:group:
Id say no killing. How can we be enlightened when we kill another human being? Not good kamma. Killing could be taking away ones joy. It could be interpreted many ways.
(Buddha said), "Monks, do not wage wordy warfare, saying: 'You don't understand this Dhamma and discipline, I understand this Dhamma and discipline'; 'How could you understand it? You have fallen into wrong practices: I have the right practice."~AN 4.183. Dont speak ill of other people and traditions with whom teach The Dharma. Right speech is respect in agreements and disagreements alike.

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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by lyndon taylor »

I interpret which precept is the most important to mean which precept are you most likely to break, with the worst consequences, most of us aren't likely to kill someone though we might kill bugs, we are quite likely to drink or do drugs, and/or lie about something. The most important precept to us should be the one we are most likely to break.
18 years ago I made one of the most important decisions of my life and entered a local Cambodian Buddhist Temple as a temple boy and, for only 3 weeks, an actual Therevada Buddhist monk. I am not a scholar, great meditator, or authority on Buddhism, but Buddhism is something I love from the Bottom of my heart. It has taught me sobriety, morality, peace, and very importantly that my suffering is optional, and doesn't have to run my life. I hope to give back what little I can to the Buddhist community, sincerely former monk John

http://trickleupeconomictheory.blogspot.com/
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Re: Which is the most important precept to get right for the Noble Path?

Post by bodom »

For those who said the precept to refrain from Lying the following from Bhikkhu Bodhi should be of interest:
It is said that in the course of his long training for enlightenment over many lives, a bodhisatta can break all the moral precepts except the pledge to speak the truth. The reason for this is very profound, and reveals that the commitment to truth has a significance transcending the domain of ethics and even mental purification, taking us to the domains of knowledge and being. Truthful speech provides, in the sphere of interpersonal communication, a parallel to wisdom in the sphere of private understanding. The two are respectively the outward and inward modalities of the same commitment to what is real. Wisdom consists in the realization of truth, and truth (sacca) is not just a verbal proposition but the nature of things as they are. To realize truth our whole being has to be brought into accord with actuality, with things as they are, which requires that in communications with others we respect things as they are by speaking the truth. Truthful speech establishes a correspondence between our own inner being and the real nature of phenomena, allowing wisdom to rise up and fathom their real nature. Thus, much more than an ethical principle, devotion to truthful speech is a matter of taking our stand on reality rather than illusion, on the truth grasped by wisdom rather than the fantasies woven by desire.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... d.html#ch4

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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