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Śīla (Sanskrit) or sīla (Pāli) in Buddhism and its non-sectarian offshoots, is a code of conduct that embraces a commitment to harmony and self-restraint with a value on non-harming. It has been variously described as virtue,[1] right conduct,[2] morality,[3] moral discipline[4] and precept.
Sīla is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior, according to one's commitment to the path of liberation. The Sanskrit and Pali word sīla is an ethics of harmony within self and relationships, rather than what is associated with the English word "morality" (i.e., obedience, a sense of obligation, and external constraint - all of which are quite foreign to the concept of sīla as taught by Guatama the Buddha). In fact, the commentaries explain the word sīla by another word, samadhana, meaning "harmony" or "coordination." [5]
Sīla is one of the three practices foundational to Buddhism and the non-sectarian Vipassana movement — sīla, samādhi and paññā. It is also the second pāramitā. [6]Though some popular conceptions of these ethics carry negative connotations of severe discipline and abstinence, sīla is more than just avoiding the unwholesome. Sīla is also wholehearted commitment to what is wholesome. Two aspects of sīla are essential to the training: right "performance" (caritta), and right "avoidance" (varitta).
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Non-harming, Pāli cognate avihiṃsā, is not a technical term in the Buddhist tradition, rather a permeating foundation for the code of conduct known as sīla. Non-harming manifests perspectives both absolute and relative, particularly in the ever-increasingly complex ethics of global culture. For example, though eating meat/animal products is technically different than killing for the meat, if one knows that such foods comes from inhumane industrialized animal husbandry then one may understand one's sīla to present new ethical questions. [7]
Notions of proper conduct and misconduct may be culturally bound and differ from east to west, introducing various gray areas as yet to be acknowledged or fully understood in the modern context of sīla. For example, there are committed sexual relationships that are technically unmarried, and married sexual relationships where there is misconduct (compulsive sexual behavior). The essential purpose of sīla, is to create harmonious sexual relations and prevent sexual relations which are hurtful to others. [8]When mature independent people, though unmarried, enter into a sexual relationship through free consent, so long as no other person is harmed, no breach of the training factor is involved. However, understanding of what is "non-harming" may vary according to the sexes and awareness of the individuals. A male may define sincere physical passion as merely non-harming, however a self-aware female may understand herself to be at risk of emotional abandonment/neglect and/or unexpected pregnancy, and thus non-harming is also an integration of the perspectives of both parties. This is perhaps why the eastern tradition has had a longstanding code of marriage tradition whereby matchmaking occurs first and sexual behavior second.
In addition, proper sexual conduct in the eastern tradition aspires towards self-restraint and rechanneling of sexual energy into the higher creative centers of being. Whereas in the west, questioning and re-defining compulsive sexual behavior (of both singles and marrieds) is as yet uncommon.
There are several levels of sīla, which correspond to the basic morality of five precepts, the basic morality with asceticism of eight precepts, novice ordination's ten precepts and full ordination's vinaya or patimokkha. Laypeople generally undertake to live by the five precepts which are common to all Buddhist schools. If they wish, they can choose to undertake the eight precepts, which have some additional precepts of basic asceticism.
The five precepts are not given in the form of commands, but are training guidelines to help one live a life in which one is happy, without worries, and able to meditate well. Breaking one's sīla as pertains to sexual conduct introduces harmfulness towards one's practice or the practice of another person if it involves uncommitted relationship. [9] They are:[10]
In Buddhist thought, the cultivation of giving (dāna) and ethical conduct will themselves refine consciousness to such a level that rebirth in one of the lower heavens is likely,[11] even if there is no further Buddhist practice. There is nothing improper or un-Buddhist about limiting one's aims to this level of attainment, although by itself it does not gain one nirvāna or end suffering.[9]
During special occasionans, monastic retreats for lay followers, and such, a more stringent set of precepts is undertaken, usually for 24 hours, until dawn the following day. The eight precepts encourage further discipline and are modeled on the monastic code. Note that in the eight precepts, the third precept on sexual misconduct is made more strict and becomes a precept of celibacy.
The three additional rules of the Eight Precepts are:[10]
Novice-monks use the ten precepts, which are the basic precepts for monastics: people who have left the domestic life and live in monasteries.
Vinaya is the specific moral code for nuns and monks . It includes the patimokkha, a set of rules (227 for monks in the Theravādin recension). The precise content of the scriptures on vinaya (vinayapiṭaka) differ slightly according to different schools, and different schools or subschools set different standards for the degree of adherence to the vinaya.
In Mahāyāna Buddhism, there is also a distinctive vinaya and ethics for bodhisattvas contained within the Mahāyāna Brahmajala Sutra (not to be confused with the Pāli text of that name). These exist above and beyond the existing monastic code, or lay follower precepts.[12] Here the eating of meat, for example, is frowned upon and vegetarianism is actively encouraged (See: vegetarianism in Buddhism). These precepts, have no parallel in Theravāda Buddhism.