This is the fifth of the Five Deadly Offenses of murdering our father, murdering our mother, causing a Buddha to bleed, killing a Bodhisattva or an Arhat and disrupting the unity among the Sangha. Therefore, it would be even worse to choose only a certain monk or nun for refuge than not to take refuge at all.
Furthermore, we only need to take refuge once. It does not accomplish anything to take refuge from one person this time and then from another the next time. We may think that we can get much more protection if we follow many monks and nuns. However, as the saying goes, "A clay idol crossing a river cannot even protect himself". Nobody can protect us. Only when we take Refuge in the Triple Jewels of our self-nature, can we protect ourselves. Some of those here today, may have gone through a Taking Refuge Ceremony. If now, those who have done so, have a clearer understanding then they can properly take refuge in the Triple Jewels by following the principles of awakening, proper thoughts and viewpoints, and purity.
The sixth principle of the Three Conditions is abiding by the precepts, laws and customs. Of all the precepts the most important are the basic Five Precepts. My late teacher, Living Buddha Master Zhang-Jia once said, "The Three Refuges and the Five Precepts are so essential that all Buddhist cultivators need to abide by them every moment". Then he explained further, "It is like a train ticket for you to get from northern Taiwan to southern Taiwan. From the moment you board the train until you reach your destination, you must hold on to that ticket. You must not lose it, because you have to show it when you depart. Taking Refuge in the Triple Jewels and the first Five Precepts are as important to you as that train ticket". He further explained that if we part from the Triple Jewels and the precepts, we will lose the teachings and will no longer be a student of the Buddha.
The Five Precepts are no killing, stealing, committing sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants. The first four offenses are physical transgressions of the self-nature. Whether or not we have taken the precepts, it is wrong to commit these acts. But for one, who has formally taken the Five Precepts, this will be considered as committing a double violation.
However, drinking alcohol and taking intoxicants is different. A person who has not taken the precepts is not guilty when drinking, however, a person who has taken the precepts and then drinks will have broken this precept. The purpose of refraining from intoxicants is to prevent us from committing the first four transgressions while under the influence. Therefore, intoxicants in themselves are not wrong. This is an example of why we need to understand the purpose of the Buddha's precept setting, its function and benefit. When deciding whether to formally take the Five Precepts, the essence of all the precepts, we need to ask the Dharma Master to explain to us exactly what they mean. Only then we will know if and how to abide by them. Merely reading a book of the precepts does not necessarily ensure our commitment to keeping them.
Some people have complained that there are too many precepts and that it is too easy to violate them. Thus, they abandon abiding by the precepts. This is why most people prefer reading or listening to talks about the sutras while avoiding those on precepts. We need to remember that precepts guide us in our behavior and are the proper conduct of all Buddhas. If there were no precepts, there would be no Buddhism. If there were no courtesies, there would be no Confucianism. Merely reciting the sutras without practicing the teachings within them will result in our not receiving any of their benefits. True learning lies in practice and the precepts represent the practice of Buddhism. Thus, abiding by the Five Precepts becomes the standard for our daily lives and the guidelines for us to attain proper enlightenment.
When the Buddha was in our world, he was joyful and open-minded, whether taking part in daily life or teaching. And it was this joy and energy that attracted people and helped them to accept Buddhism. It is not meant to bind us, but to benefit all beings by bringing them joy and happiness. The formation of the precepts was to show us the right path to attain a happy and fulfilling life.
A good illustration is my late teacher, Mr. Bing-Nan Lee, who lived a simple and frugal yet happy life. For decades, he only ate one meal a day. But, whenever he was invited out for dinner, he accepted. On several occasions, he invited me to accompany him. Since I had been practicing the precept of not eating dinner for years, I felt very uncomfortable when being invited. Mr. Lee simply said to me, "Come with me! Come with me!" Later he spoke to me, "With this attachment, you will not be able to help people. Why? Because if you intend to help them, you must make them happy. Eating this dinner is not violating the precepts but rather it is lifting them. They invited you with good intentions. If you reject their invitations, they will look upon you as being closed to reason. Then they will not only reject Buddhism, but also will also tell others that we practitioners are arrogant and look down upon others. They may also urge them to avoid Buddhists. So, you could ruin the opportunity of an untold number of people to learn of Buddhism. Furthermore, this will result in the creation of negative karma for you". Therefore, he was not violating the precepts but was instead simply lifting them for this meant making others happy, helping them to learn of Buddhism as well as according with conditions.
When we arrived at one dinner, the host apologized, "I am very sorry that I did not know that my Mr. Lee does not eat after noon". The host was obviously deeply moved that Mr. Lee had accepted his invitation. We can see from this that Buddhism is flexible. However, it would have been entirely different if Mr. Lee, or one who practices this precept, wanted to eat something in the evening.
