Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Search Sangha Live

Precepts as Orientation

With Daigan Gaither recorded on March 27, 2022.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

The 5 precepts often given to lay practitioners are (with positive instructions in parenthesis):

I vow not to kill (Love and support all beings)
I vow not to steal (generosity)
I vow not to misuse sexuality (contentment)
I vow not to lie (compassionate truthfulness)
I vow not to intoxicate self or other (staying mindful)

We can think of precepts as aligning with our deepest intentions, known and unknown. These precepts are not “rules” as much as they are guideposts which can orient our activity in support of our liberation. We can explore them in deeper and deeper ways that encourage us to understand what it means to not kill, not steal, not misuse sexuality, not lie or not intoxicate.  As we practice, our relationship to these goalposts will change, strengthen, and we gain deeper understanding of these vows.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Tags: ethics wisdom

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Caverly Morgan – Week of April 6

    We’re very grateful to have Caverly Morgan hosting our Daily Meditation Series for North America. To find out more about Caverly, and to view her past recordings and contributions to Sangha Live, click here. Monday, April 6 Becoming the ocean of awareness and acceptance Wednesday, April 8 Resting together in our shared being Tuesday, April…

    Read More

  • Trudy Goodman

    Presence as an Act of Compassion and Love

    Recorded : April 21, 2024

    Mindful presence is the necessary ground of compassion and care. With presence, we courageously enter an intimacy that connects us with ourselves, each other and the world, body, heart and spirit. The beautiful truth is that presence and love can grow and blossom through the practices of meditation and mindful loving awareness. Let’s join together…

    Read More

  • Chris Willard

    The Joy of Letting Go: Simplicity and Renunciation

    Recorded : July 6, 2025

    In our consumer culture, we fall for the illusion that more choice-in things, work, people, even spiritual paths-leads to more freedom, when often the opposite is true. As Jack Kornfield says, we live “in an era of unlimited desires but limited resources, when we think it’s the opposite.” More mindful awareness of our consumption isn’t…

    Read More

  • Miles Kessler

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Miles Kessler – Week of 19 January, 2026

    This week’s theme is: The Seven Stages of Purification in Insight Meditation

    The Seven Stages of Purification in Insight Meditation is a 5-day exploration of how insight naturally unfolds through practice, as described in the classical Theravāda map of purification. Each day will combine a short teaching with guided meditation, helping practitioners-whether new or experienced-recognize how challenge, insight, clarity, and release arise as part of a single, coherent developmental process. Rather than presenting the stages as goals to attain, this series offers them as an orienting framework: a way to understand what is already happening in your practice, normalize both ease and challenge, and cultivate confidence, patience, and continuity on the path of awakening.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More

  • Vimalasara Mason-John

    Sitting With Our Ancestors

    Recorded : December 18, 2022

    In times of struggle we can always call on the ancestors. Our affinity ones are just as important as our biological ones. The Buddhist path is full of affinity beings who inspire us. Join me in remembering those who have gone before us, and paved the path of freedom and liberation.

    Read More

  • Leslie Booker

    Embodied Wisdom: The Self-Preservation of Activism

    Recorded : July 8, 2017

    Yes, the world is on fire. And, how do we respond to the rage, anger, and fear that can engulf us? How do we utilize these emotions as catalysts that can move us into action that doesn’t burn us up and destroy us? We investigate the Self-Preservation of Activism by feeling into our body wisdom…

    Read More