Skip to main content
 

The Eight Mahayana Precepts - List

  5.00/5.00 - (1 votes for article, provide comments and help us improve if required.)

The eight mahayana precepts are a precious and powerful practice that purify negative karma and produce positive karma, or good fortune for our future.

The Eight Mahayana Precepts - ListThe Eight Mahayana Precepts - ListThe Eight Mahayana Precepts - ListThe Eight Mahayana Precepts - List
The Eight Mahayana Precepts - List

The precepts function to improve our familiarity with the practice of moral discipline, deepen compassion and make human life meaningful.
This practise is traditionally done at daybreak on the 15th of every month or on the full moon. It takes the form of a short Sadhana of prayers and meditations, which, in general is guided.
When one takes the eight Mahayana precepts, one explicitly promises to abstain for twenty four hours from the eight actions below.
The precepts guard the mind from negativity and help us to avoid problems (or suffering) that arise from this negative mind and can lead to an indestructible pure body.

The Eight Mahayana Precepts

01. Do not kill, even insects. Root precept.

Not killing brings a longer life in the future for all and less sickness.

02. Do not to steal (Not to take what is not offered). Root precept.

Even if others, in the grips of great desire, should steal, or encourage others to take away, all the wealth that I possess, to dedicate to them entirely my body, possessions and all my merits, from the past, present and future, this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
Not stealing results in becoming all becoming richer, having enjoyments in future lives, and not having other people disturb our possessions in this.

03. Do not to engage in sexual contact. Root precept.

The ordained keep away from this type of contact to assist with keeping a clear mind.

04. Do not to lie. Root precept.

Not lying results in all not betrayed by lies in future, and in our words being trusted by others here and now.

05. Do not to use intoxicants: alcohol, tobacco and drugs (except for medicinal purposes). Branch precept.

No intoxication results in clear wisdom and senses, and improves consciousness.

06. Do not to eat at wrong times. Branch precept.

Eating more than than is necessary is not good and only develops greed. Light fasting can help stop greed and decrease the negative mind.

07. Do not to sit on high, expensive beds or seats with pride. Avoid sitting on animal skins. Branch precept.

Having expensive things to which greed will make us attached. Expensive things can increases pride, depending on whether the negative mind is present or not. The benefit of keeping this precept is that in future lives we will have respect, admiration, and exultation.

08. Do not to wear jewellery, perfume, or makeup, with attachment, or sing, dance, or play music, with attachment. Branch precept.

The result of this is that the body smells naturally good, with a better shape in the future.

Synonyms/tags: Eight Abstentious Precepts, one day precepts, the eight vows




Or, per your interest, look at other related links;

  Full moon dates.

Or, why not search for other related lists on our site;

Or, want to know more? Then more information can be found from external resources at this other website The Eight Mahayana Precepts.

This list was published by Here There, Everywhere and is a printable check-list; To print, hold down the key marked "ctrl", and whilst holding that down, press the "p" key.
This is a downloadable list, select here, if you would like to download the The Eight Mahayana Precepts - List as an excel or .csv file. Or find the print function on your browser (top right, three dots, print) and print to a pdf printer if you would like to download as a pdf file, or print to a pdf file.

If you are interested in advertising with us reach out via the contact page below. If you would like to share viewers, and your site is related with great content, then feel free to use the code below on your site then reach out via our contact page and we will look for a place to mention you.


Otherwise, suggest improvements, request additional items, report typos, errors or misspellings, ask us questions or just say hello via the comments here below, we are always pleased to hear from you.

Comments HistoryBe a pioneer and write the first comment.

Note: Current average rating of 5.00 based on 1 reviews and ratings. (1-Low, 5-High)

Note: Comments and ratings help this site get better; if you see something missing, see something wrong, have a question, or want to suggest something to improve then comment below and join the dialogue;

Comments



Looking for something else? Then search the rest of the internet here. If you do like what you see then come back sometime and create your own checklist here. If the item does not have a checkbox next to it, its probably a folder which you can open by clicking. If there are actions listed against an item on the right hand side you can visit websites, download as excel/csv for xls, or create an ical calendar entry.

If you found this page useful, share it, or like us using the buttons on the bottom right, it helps us to improve.

This webpage with information about The Eight Mahayana Precepts has the following attributes;
The list was authored by .

« Go look for more free lists & checklists