Ten Pillars of Buddhism

THE TEN PILLARS OF BUDDHISM are ten ethical principles which together provide a comprehensive guide to the moral dimension of human life.

To explore them is to turn the lens of moral vision on to one aspect of life after another. To apply them is to accept the challenge of human potential for higher development - and to work with that challenge in the arena of everyday life.

Sangharakshita is an ideal preceptor. As founder of the world wide Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, and head of the Western Buddhist Order itself, he is an accomplished teacher, respected in East and West alike.

Readers from the Buddhist world will find some of Sangharakshita's ideas especially thought provoking and even controversial. But all readers, whether Buddhists or not, will find this essay an invaluable source of stimulation and insight in their quest for ethical standards by which to live.

The Ten Precepts
The Ten Positive Precepts
Foreward
About the Author
Introduction

Part 1: THE TEN PRECEPTS COLLECTIVELY

The Relation Between Refuges and Precepts
The Canonical Sources of the Ten Precepts
The Ten Precepts and Total Transformation
The Ten Precepts as Principles of Ethics
The Ten Precepts as Rules ofTraining
The Ten Precepts as Mula-Pratimoksa
The Ten Precepts and Other Ethical Formulae
The Ten Precepts and Life-style

Part 2: THE TEN PRECEPTS INDIVIDUALLY

The First Precept
The Second Precept
The Third Precept
The Fourth Precepts
The Fifth Precepts
The Sixth Precepts
The Seventh Precepts
The Eighth Precepts
The Ninth Precepts
The Tenth Precept