(Env 01300100)-three jewels and five precepts of buddhism

By The Venerable Elder THICH THONG LAC
1
THREE JEWELS
AND FIVE
PRECEPTS OF
BUDDHISM
BY THE VENERABLE ELDER
THICH THONG LAC
Translated from Vietnamese into English
by
Tam Nhu
PUBLISHED IN VIETNAMESE BY THE PUBLISHER OF RELIGION 2012

THREE JEWELS AND FIVE PRECEPTS OF BUDDHISM
2

3
[The translator is a student of Buddhism
and has made her best to carry out this
translation work to support those who
wish to learn Buddhism but could not read
the book in Vietnamese. However, there
would be areas of the work where
correction or improvement may be needed.
There have been helpful supports from
many enthusiastic and kindhearted friends
in this regards. Further constructive
comments and recommendations are most
welcomed to make the work better.]

4
PREFACE
If you wish to follow a spiritual set of
beliefs, you would need to research and
understand it thoroughly. If it is
indeed the truth of humanity, then you
can have faith and live your life in
accordance with its teachings.
Otherwise, if a religion1 builds up
metaphysical world and takes beliefs
1
[translator] The original Vietnamese word of the
Venerable Elder Thich Thong Lac is “tôn giáo” and its literal
English translation is "religion". This word will be used several
times in the whole book in two different ways: (1) religion as
a set of beliefs and worship (e.g. of a superhuman controlling
power, God or gods etc) and (2) religion as a spiritual path
including practical psycho-ethical aspects with methods for
people to practice to overcome sufferings.

5
in monotheism or polytheism, then it
can be illusionary, unpractical, and
less concrete; you should reconsider so
as not to take a premature decision. It
would not only bring no benefit to your
life, but also infuse superstitious,
abstract and backward thoughts to
your mind and make you become a
blind, fanatic, superstitious, backward
follower.
As such, if you want to follow
Buddhism, you need to really
understand:

6
1. Who is Buddha?
2. What is Dharma?
3. Who is Sangha?
You should not close your eyes and
take belief, instead, be selective so that
your pure soul and mind shall not be
polluted by the illusions of the falsified
religious thoughts that can ruin your
entire life.
So when you want to take refuge in the
Three Jewels and Five Precepts in
order to become a Buddhist disciple,

7
you need to study the Buddhism
thoroughly.
In your research of Buddhism, if you
only read the expanded canons, little
could you understand the Buddhism.
In your research of Buddhism, if you
just go to pogodas listening to the
teachings there and thus have beliefs to
take refuge in the Three Jewels, this is
not a right approach! Carelessness may
lead you to miscreance which is very
difficult to be later unrooted and thus

8
resulting in tremendous inner conflicts
and distress for you.
Before listening to the teachings of the
religion that you consider to follow,
you should find a Master, not one with
a Master’s degree but one who has
been following strict moral principles
and never violated even a minimal
precept throughout his entire religious
life. Such a Master is the fully
awakened one who will be able to
guide your Buddhism study in a correct
way. And once the religion that you

9
select is in accordance with your
heartfelt wishes, it shall bring
practical benefits to you in your life
journey to your true religion.
With all respects
The Venerable Elder Thich Thong Lac

10
PART 1: TAKING REFUGE
IN THE THREE JEWELS
Before taking refuge in the Three Jewels,
you need to understand what it means.
There are two parts of this expression:
1. Take refuge
2. The Three Jewels
First of all, what does the term “take
refuge” [Vietnamese: “Quy Y”] mean?
This means “to come back to rely on”.
The word comes from the Sanskrit word
“Namah”.
People rely on their parents. They rely on
their parents for many things to grow up
- food and shelter, education and support

11
in their business, weddings and other
events in life. However, other than those,
they would not be able to rely on their
parents. For example, when they get sick,
their parents cannot bear the sickness for
them; or when they suffer from anger,
hate or sadness, their parents cannot
remove such suffering for them. Or when
they die, their parents also cannot
substitute them. Therefore, there are
many aspects that people cannot rely on
their parents.
As such, you look for a refuge to be
sheltered from all the sufferings which
neither your parents nor any of your close
ones can help you with.

12
As each human being would have his or
her own sorrows, you could not rely on
anyone else to escape your sufferings,
you thus take refuge in the Three Jewels.
By relying on the Three Jewels, you are
free from sufferings, i.e. you take control
of your life, aging, sickness and death and
terminate the reincarnation.
Now is the second term – “Three Jewels”.
What are the Three Jewels that you can
rely on and be free from sufferings?
The Three Jewels are:
1. The Buddha
2. The Dharma
3. The Sangha
***

13
FIRST – THE BUDDHA
So who is the Buddha?
The Buddha2 is a human being with flesh
and bones who was born by his parents in
an ordinary way like us and was brought
up with milk, porridge, rice and food.
When he grew up, he got married and
had a child similar to others. He also had
sorrows due to sickness, anger, sadness
etc. Particularly after his visit to the four
2 [translator] “…the Buddha or ‘Awakened One’…was
Siddhattha Gotama (Sanskrit: Siddhārtha Gautama),
Sakyamuni, the ‘sage of the Sakya people’….lived and
flourished during the fifth century BCE in eastern India and
died some time around 400 BCE”. Source: Sayings of the
Buddha, New translations by Rupert Gethin from the Pali
Nikayas, Oxford World’s Classic, Oxford University Press,
2008

14
gates of the city, he saw the four scenes
of sufferings of a human life:
1. The first scene is of an old man
walking difficultly in tremble with a
stick.
2. The second scene is of a sick person
crying in pains.
3. The third scene is of a dead person
whose relatives were sobbing in
deep sorrows.
4. The forth scene is of an ascetic
walking peacefully and calmly on
his way for food.
Seeing these four scenes and the
sufferings of a human life, he thought: "I
will have to experience these same

15
sufferings." No one could escape these
sufferings due to the law of cause and
effect; therefore, he decided to let go of
the worldly life and accepted an ascetic
life to find a practicing method for
liberation and master the four sufferings
of a human life (living, aging, sickness,
death). He has achieved such liberation.
He has attained the truth of humanity.
And so his first discourse to the five
ascetics (Kondañña, Vappa, Bhaddiya,
Mahanāma, and Assaji) is the Four Noble
Truths.
Buddhism was born with these four
truths offering mankind an education
program to equip human beings with a

16
sufficient moral foundation, which is
based on the causality law, having human
being as its core, and helping people to
live without creating sufferings to one’s
self and others.
Based on the four truths, he has
mastered his living, aging, sickness and
death and put an end to rebirth. We are
also human beings like him and were
born by our parents similar to him; he was
successful in his practice for liberation
from the suffering circle, then we can also
do that! Whatever he could do, we can do
the same. He is a human being, we are
also human beings. With such strong

17
belief in human beings, there is nothing
that we cannot succeed, isn’t there?
We have belief that the Buddha was a
human being, he was not born as a saint
or bodhisattva etc. coming from outside
of this world. If he were born as a saint
reincarnated to this world from some
other worlds as described in the
expanded canons e.g. when he was born,
he walked seven steps on seven lotuses
with one arm pointed up and the other
arm pointed down saying “In the whole
sky and land, I am the unique”, then he
must have already been an enlightened
one who was obviously different from
human beings and came here to assist

18
and help us, then we could not become
like him through practice.
The truth is not that. Expanded canons
often tell legends of deification of the
Buddha. How someone who had been
born as saint had to go through six years
of extreme austerity due to following
heretic teachings. It is obvious that there
is exaggeration in these stories which has
invented an imaginary religious leader.
During the whole six years, he could not
see the right and not right methods;
therefore, he had to undergo
considerable studies and practice of
other schools rather than his own.

19
After six years of extreme austerity and
heretic practice, he nearly died and was
described in the canons as “when the
Buddha was in extreme austerity he ate
very little, and thus he looked like a
skeleton with skin, and if someone
touched his stomach the person would
also touch his backbone”. Even this
description is an exaggeration as if it
were true then he had been dead.
We know that the Buddha performed
utmost austerity but it was not as
extreme as above mentioned by the
Patriarchs who had altered the texts. He
was a brilliant and healthy person with
extraordinary will in his practice.

20
After six years of extreme austerity, he
could not find the way to liberation, as
such he renounced all existing methods
of other sects and schools to create his
own method, and he found the truth, a
true path to liberation. Because of his
compassion to living beings, he gave us
his teachings.
So the Buddha was actually a human
being like us and not from Tusita heaven.
Thanks to this truth, we believe that we –
human beings – can attain this liberation.
As such, no one can make us change our
belief that the Buddha was actually a
human being. Therefore, if there is

21
someone coming from other worlds to
teach us, we would not follow such
person.
Reading the world history, we are
confident that in this planet there was a
real person from India who took ascetic
life after renouncing his throne, fame and
wealth, his wife and son and later
attained full enlightenment as Buddha.
The following generations respected him
and created a religion after his name –
Buddhism, but this is not his intention. In
Buddhism, there is no Saint, Creator,
Almighty, Saviour and those following
Buddhism stand on their own feet to save

22
themselves instead of relying on other
powers.
Nowadays there are Buddhist sects full of
other powers and heavenly authority
which are impractical and make people
lose trust due to their superstitious and
begging nature. Therefore, we need to
return to the self-reliant root of original
and righteous Buddhism, which means to
return to the Sakyamuni Buddha. To
return to the Sakyamuni Buddha is to
take refuge in the Buddha.
Today you have understood which
Buddha you chose to take refuge in.
Apart from the Sakyamuni Buddha, there

23
is no other Buddha that you should take
refuge in. So now join your hands
together in front of you, turn yourself
toward the Buddha statue and in silence
make your vow to take refuge in Him and
then make your bow to Him once.
***

24
SECOND – THE DHARMA
So what is the Dharma?
Dharma is the teachings of the Buddha
andhis experience in his practicetoattain
full enlightenment to teach human
beings to reach the same result. So why
his Dharma is a shelter for us to be free
from sufferings?
Is the dharma the chanting of Amitabha?
Or the zen meditation without any
positive or negative thought? Or Hua
Tou, Koan? Or mantra, or to exorcize by
clasping hands, or reciting, or bowing and
chanting Buddha’s name in penitence?

25
No! The Buddha did not teach us the
above methods, instead, he taught us the
Four Right Efforts i.e. to prevent and
eliminate the evilness, to start and
develop the goodness. His method is very
practical, he taught: “When my mind is
greedy I know my mind is greedy, when
my mind is not greedy I know my mind is
not greedy”. Craving is an evilness which
bring sufferings for self, for other people,
for both. Once we know something is
evilness, we will immediately
exterminate it in our mind. When we take
refuge in the Dharma, our mind is free
from sorrows. Relying on parents cannot

26
free us from sufferings, only by relying on
Dharma could we get rid of sufferings.
When our sick bodies ache, no matter
what diseases in our bodies, by following
the Buddha’s method the sickness will be
put to an end and there would be no more
ache (Observe the body on the body to
overcome sufferings).
Example: when we have headache, we
would gather our mind to focus on the
breath and stay with the breath. And how
do we stay with the breath?
First of all, we gather our mind to focus
on the breath: “Inhale I know I’m
breathing in, exhale I know I’m breathing
out”. With right mindfulness of the

27
breath, we create a thought for the mind:
“With calmandstill bodyoperation, Iknow
I’m breathing in; with calm and still body
operation, I know I’m breathing out”.
When the mind rests peacefully in the
breath, the headache disappears. Relying
on parents could not help us to overcome
headache, only by relying on the method
to prevent and eliminate the evilness can
we overcome our sickness. As such, by
taking refuge in Buddha’s method we
could master the four sufferings of
human life: living, aging, sickness, and
death; there is no other method than this
for us to rely on to go beyond sufferings.

28
The method to master the sufferings is so
beneficial, it is called the moral
foundation which bases itself on the
cause-and-effect law and considers
mankind as its core for development, and
teaches people living without creating
sufferings for themselves and others; as
the method brings so much benefits to
people’s life and society, it deserves its
name as Dharma Jewel.
Such a beneficial method is worth taking
refuge in, isn’t it? Taking refuge in the
Buddha alone is not enough for a
complete liberation, so we also need to
take refuge in the Dharma.
***

29
THIRD – THE SANGHA
So what is the Sangha?
Sangha is Buddhist monks who have
practiced and attained the true
enlightenment, living like the Buddha
and abiding by full principles without any
tiny violation, and are the bright
examples of right conducts and virtues
for people to follow.
Sangha is a Holy monk who heightens
the virtuous conducts of Buddhism and is
the bright example for people to follow
and practice Buddhism.
Therefore, it is not easy to find a Holy
monk who has attained true

30
enlightenment and is so rare, so hard to
find and meet nowadays. Once you find
such a person, you should take refuge in
the person, this means to take refuge in
the Jewel of Sangha.
How to choose a Holy Monk? To choose a
holy monk is to choose one who shaved
his hair and beard, putting on the Kasaya
(monk’s robe), leaving home, living
without family and houses, whose mind
is as white as the seashell and as open as
the space, and always feel satisfied with
basic material conditions.
In our life, if we could find such a Holy
monk, we should follow his example as a
torch light to show us the way.

31
It’s not easy to find the Jewel of Sangha.
It’s actually very difficult! It’s extremely
difficult! You should not take refuge in
any monk you meet just to fill up the
Three Jewels.
To follow Buddhism, you should not
listen to anything that comes to you. It’s
necessary to carefully choose a teacher
as the Buddha has taught: “If you want to
learn Buddhism, you should choose a
teacher who has finished craving,
anger, and ignorance”, or being close to:
“ see the Holy monk, is fluent in the
method of the Holy monk; practice the
method of the Holy monk; see the
enlightened monk, is fluent in the

32
method of the enlightened monk, and
practice the method of the enlightened
monk”. Such a monk is worth considering
our teacher. If you could not find such a
teacher, don’t take refuge in the Jewel of
Sangha. You should wait until you find
the right Jewel of Sangha to take refuge
in all three jewels; until then, please don’t
be in a hurry to devote your life to
miscreance; it’s such a waste of a human
life.
Though Sangha is listed as the third
Jewel, it’s the most important in the
Three Jewels. Without the Jewel of
Sangha, we could never be awakened to
the truth; without being awakened to the

33
truth, we could not support and follow
the truth; without following the truth, we
could not attain the truth.
As such, the Jewel of Sangha is the most
valuable jewel. If you are born during the
time of the Buddha or an Arhat, this is an
unlimited fortune.
The Jewel of Sangha is priceless;
however, the Buddha passed away so
long ago and thus you cannot ask him
when you encounter difficulties in
practice. The followers only follow his
example of virtues as recorded in the
history. Taking refuge in the Jewel of
Buddha only is not enough. Therefore, if

34
we want to fulfill our practice to attain
complete liberation, apart from the Jewel
of Buddha – a good example of virtues in
our way for liberation, there are more
things we need.
Jewel of Dharma is the canon texts, the
discourses taught by the Buddha which
are now gathered in the Nikayas by the
Patriarchs. We all follow these teachings
to perform our practice, but when we
have questions or difficulties we cannot
ask the canons.
So we take refuge in the Dharma but
could not have answer for our questions
to complete our practice. Therefore, the

35
Jewel of Dharma is precious but not as
precious as the Jewel of Sangha as the
former has both advantages and
disadvantages i.e. not completely
advantageous.
The Jewel of Sangha is a person who lives
like other people but has attained the
truth and thus is experienced in practice
to guide others. Therefore, if we take
refuge in the person, we will be
awakened. After we are awaked to the
truth, he will teach us to follow the truth.
Soon after following the truth, we will
attain the truth. After attaining the truth,
we will master: living, aging, sickness and
death and put an end to rebirth.

36
In summary, amongst the Three Jewels,
the Jewel of Sangha is the most useful.
Thanks to the Jewel of Sangha, people
can follow the right method of
Buddhism, being awakened to the truth,
knowing how to follow the truth and
hence attaining the truth. Without the
Jewel of Sangha, people would follow the
wrong method and so the life of practice
is just the matter of form. Now we have a
look at the nowadays Buddhist monks
and nuns, due to the lack of an
enlightened teacher, they only follow the
canons and create inverted explanation
of the texts to practice, and as a result,

37
like a queue of the blind, they could not
attain the truth.
Today you have been taught in details
about the Three Jewels. So you should
choose the Three Jewels which match
your wish.
I would like to repeat: the Jewel of
Buddha is a real person, not an imaginary
or abstract figure. This is a real person
who has practiced and attained liberation
to master the four sufferings of human
life: living, aging, sickness and death and
put an end to reincarnation. He has
attained the ultimate truth – a target of

38
unshakable mind3 – a path to escape the
four sufferings of a human life.
If people in this world understand that life
is suffering and see suffering as it really is,
they would wish to escape as no one
wants to live in sufferings. Just as they
don’t know the way out, they have no
choice but to stay, everyone looks
forward to peace and happiness, no one
wants sorrows!
Daily life is constantly interfered by
evilness in each circumstance, each
event, each object etc. And so you
frequently encounter obstacles which
3 [translator] The state of perfect equanimity of the mind
when it is free from greed, anger, ignorance, conceit, doubt.

39
result in sorrows, pains, anger, dislike,
jealousy, hatred, fear etc. in many
circumstances people could not afford
and commit suicide or fall in the wrong
path of being addicted to alcohol,
gambling etc.
No human being could escape sickness.
The older a person is, the weaker his body
is; disease comes one after one and the
walking is not steady. The body is
impermanent; we know the constant
change in our body! As we know this
change clearly, we could not stay still as if
we were ignorant.
Before we knew the method, we had no
choice but to accept the four sufferings;

40
but once we know the method to
overcome the sufferings, who would sit in
ignorance to take the torturing pains?
Today, I skillfully remind you of the right
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha which are
the Three Jewels. After my teaching of
the Three Jewels, do you have any doubt?
Do you have any question of the meaning
of the Three Jewels? Is the meaning of
the Three Jewels worth taking refuge in?
From my view: the Three Jewels are so
beneficial and offer people peace and
happiness. You should have trust in them
as they give you salvation.

41
In summary, the Jewel of the Buddha is
the example of virtues for people to
follow, is the torch showing the way for
people. Although the Buddha is no longer
in this world, remembering the Buddha is
to remember the first person who has
found the way to liberation for mankind
today.
In this world, there is no religion which
has the method like the Buddha’s
Dharma. It is the method to practice by
using self-power to fight with the enemy
of life-death-rebirth, the Buddha has
taught: “Light the torch and walk on
your own feet”. When the torch of virtues
for liberation spreads the light of living

42
without giving sorrows to self and others
in every second, every minute, every day,
every month, every year, it turns the life
full of sins and sufferings into Heaven
with extreme happiness in this very
world instead of elsewhere.
It is taught clearly in the Dharma that if
someone often pays attention to prevent
and eliminate evilness and give rise to
and develop goodness, I believe that the
person has had the right understanding
of Buddhism and thus would not practice
wrong method. And so, no evilness could
penetrate their mind and body. They
would never let a karmic force last for one
day, two days, three days; only in a

43
moment, a second, a minute they focus
to root it out. They would not let a single
sign of sorrows in their mind. They would
see all these as impermanent and
sufferings. Otherwise, if we are ignorant,
such things would torment and worry us
in a protracted period before becoming
less tense and disappear – this is due to
the lack of right method. Once we know
the Buddha’s method, we would never
be a fool to let our mind be tormented
day after day.
The Three Jewels are so precious and
beneficial that they help people live a
peaceful and happy life in a practical way
without any illusion.

44
Dharma is not meant for magic such as
knowing the past, the future,
transforming or vanishing, spreading
light, going through rocks, mountains,
walls etc. Such magic serves no practical
usefulness; it’s just a cheap game of
illusion; it is not as useful as the method
of preventing and eliminating evilness.
You should consider this: a monk
practices to have magic knowing the past
and telling your family stories or your
future which could partly be accurate, but
will all these be useful to you? So you
should see that the Three Jewels are very
valuable.

45
I will teach you the method to master the
living, aging, sickness and death so you
could have deeper understanding of the
high value of the Jewel of Dharma.
E.g.1. You are in anger over something;
to take away such anger, you use
Concentration by remembering the
breath4 applying the topic:
“contemplating on abandoning the anger,
I know I’m breathing in; contemplating on
abandoning the anger, I know I’m
breathing out”. With such thought and
4 [translator] in Vietnamese as “Định Niệm Hơi Thở”
which means to stay focused in a topic while remembering the
breath i.e. you don’t focus in the breath, instead you focus in
a topic that you would like to develop and by remembering the
breath it keeps your mind awake and effective.

46
mind gathering in the breath, the anger
will disappear.
E.g.2. You have a bellyache and you want
to no longer have this ache in your body;
you use Concentration by remembering
the breath applying the topic: “With
peaceful and calm body operation, I know
I’m breathing in; with peaceful and calm
body operation, I know I’m breathing out”.
With such thought and mind gathering in
the breath, the ache would fade away.
E.g.3. You have an aging and weakening
body; if you want to leave this body which
is made of the four great elements5, then
5 [translator] earth, water, air (wind), fire (heat)

47
you should enter the Forth Concentration
(4th Jhana) to stop the breath and leave
the body to enter the stage of peace, bliss
and carefreeness; it means that you die in
peace and bliss without any sufferings
like ordinary people.
After consideration of the tremendous
value of the Three Jewels for our life, you
now join your hands together in front of
you, with your face towards the Buddha’s
statue and make your wish: “From now
on I vow to take refuge in the Three
Jewels and would never depart. I wish the
Buddha would certify this for us”.

48
After making your vow, you would make
three bows to the Buddha to receive and
retain the Three Jewels.
(After bowing, please sit down and listen
to further teaching).
***

49
PART 2: OBSERVING THE
FIVE PRECEPTS
Before observing the Five Precepts, you
need to understand what they mean.
There are two parts in “Observing the
Five Precepts”:
1- Observing
2- Five Precepts
Now you look at the meaning of
“Observing”. So what does “Observing”
mean?
Observing means to accept, to agree, to
count oneself powerless.

50
Five Precepts means the five prohibition
rules. So observing the five precepts
means to accept to live in accordance
with the five rules without any violations
even at minimum level.
In Buddhism, these five precepts are the
five standards for being human. Anyone
who does not live in accordance with
these five precepts does not deserve
being a human.
Now I will transmit the five precepts, you
listen and contemplate to comprehend
these rules.
Here I would not transmit the five
precepts for the sake of saying. As

51
Buddhism is based on voluntariness and
self-awareness, whoever comes to
Buddhism also comes with full
understanding of its four truths. With
comprehension of the four truths, one
would come with whole-hearted faith.
Therefore, one would voluntarily accept
and take the principles of conducts and
virtues as one’s life. Buddhism does not
entice anyone.
Buddhism is a way for liberation and so
there is no prohibiting five rules, as
prohibition means compulsion, and if
there is compulsion how can it be called a
way for liberation? The five prohibiting
precepts were invented by the Patriarchs

52
to prevent Mahayana monks from
breaking, violating and crumbling the
rules etc.
My transmission of the five precepts here
is to teach you the five virtues and
conducts to be a worthy human being.
Whoever completely observes the five
virtues/conducts is a true human being.
So what are the five virtues?
The five virtues include:
1. The precept of not killing = the
Virtue of having Love and
Compassion for Life.
2. The precept of not stealing or
robbing = the Virtue of Letting go

53
3. The precept of not having sexual
misconduct = the Virtue of being
Faithful
4. The precept of not telling lies = the
Virtue of being Honest
5. The precept of not drinking alcohol
= the Virtue of being Sober
***

54
FIRST PRECEPT: NOT TO KILL
The precept of not killing is the “VIRTUE
OF HAVING LOVE AND COMPASSION FOR
LIFE”. Buddhist followers need to learn to
understand and live in accordance with
this virtue.
The Virtue of having Love and
Compassion for life means to cherish the
life of all beings on this planet.
Only human beings can carry out this
virtue; therefore, Buddhism was born to
teach human beings so that we can
establish a spirit of cherishing life. And
thanks to this, we can live without

55
creating sufferings for ourselves, for
others and for other beings, and
transform the life in this world to one of
peace and happiness for all beings.
The planet on which we are living is a
planet of numerous combinations of
causing conditions to live and give rise to
other lives. There are innumerable
combinations of causing conditions and
thus innumerable arising causes. Birth
and death are nature of this planet. A
living planet is a planet which has plenty
of causing conditions combined to create
a new life. To create a new life means the
combination of causing conditions that

56
creates a new species of animal or
vegetation.
Therefore, all beings are created not by a
CREATOR but through the COMBINATION
OF CAUSING CONDITIONS.
We and all beings come into existence
out of the combination of causing
conditions, and so we need to cherish
others, cherish all beings, as only with
love and compassion can we protect the
life of all beings and ourselves. If we
heartlessly destroy the life of other
beings, it means we destroy our own life.
Why do we call our planet a living planet?

57
In the universe, there are many solar
systems, in each solar system, there are
many planets, and most of them are dead
planets as there is no life on them. In the
universal space, there are fewer living
planets compared with dead ones.
Living planet is a place where living
environment is suitable for beings to be
born, sprout, live and grow. Starting with
the moss, plant to bacterium, insect and
animal, and finally human appears.
Human is the high-grade and most
intelligent amongst animals. Thanks to
its intelligence, human is considered the
lord of all beings.

58
Animals living on this planet kill and eat
each other without mercy. Human is also
a kind of animal and thus has the savage
nature of animals to kill and eat meat.
Though humans consider themselves
civilized, the ferocious nature is still in
them.
As mentioned above, human beings are
of high grade thanks to their intelligence
and vivid sentiment, with which there are
people who have escaped the cruel
nature of animals, honoring the love for
life of all beings. One of them is the
Sakyamuni Buddha who has established
for humanity a moral foundation which is
based on the cause-and-effect law and

59
focuses on human development; and
called on all beings to live with the virtue
of cherishing life (the mind of love and
compassion) and true love for each other.
There is order in terms of love and
compassion towards life of all beings:
1. Level 1: Human beings love human
beings
2. Level 2: Human beings love other
animals
3. Level 3: Human beings love plants
and vegetation.
The virtue of love and compassion
combines all three levels. The love for life
originates from the heart (mind) of love,

60
compassion, joy, and let-go. In
Buddhism, such mind is called “the Four
Immeasurable Minds”. It is a method to
practice “the Virtue of Love and
Compassion for Life”.
A person with the mind of love and
compassion for life is the one who
appreciates life of all beings. And such
person is a Saint, as only a Saint could live
such a life. Having no heart to kill and eat
other beings means to move beyond the
ferocious nature of animals; such an act
could not be done by animals, only
human beings can do.

61
Therefore, a saint does not come from
the sky or from beneath the earth but
from mankind who have the heart of love
for all beings’ life.
From the understanding of sufferings, we
make effort to correct ourselves to
perform no evilness, and only to carry out
goodness – it is the practice to become
true human beings and from that to
become true Saints.
Please have a look at people around us, it
is so hard to find a human being who has
the heart of love for all beings’ life, isn’t
it?

62
The Virtue of Love and Compassion for
Life is to define your mind of love,
compassion, joy, and let-go. Regardless
of age, one must live in accordance with
this to be a holy Buddhist follower.
Nevertheless, there are some people who
dress like the Buddha and call themselves
Buddha’s disciples and followers of the
Original Method of the Buddha but still
eat meat in their daily life without any
compassion towards the killings and
sufferings of animals. Such enormous
crime is covered with lies, especially from
the text of Nirvana Sutra, they say that
“Before His pass-away, the Buddha ate
meat of wild boar”. Such a crafty and

63
cunning fabrication. Look at it and you
see that there is no better lie, as by saying
“the Buddha ate meat”, no one could
condemn them.
Meanwhile, the Buddha taught us:
“Inherit method, rather not to inherit
food”. The first precept teaches “NOT TO
KILL”. Despite these, they’ve dared to
fabricate the story of the Buddha eating
meat before passing away.
At that moment, a bhikkhu coming from
afar presented the Buddha with an
event: “Sir, there were two of us on the
way here. Thanks to drinking water with
worms, I kept my life to come here to

64
meet you, whereas my friend, due to his
adherence to the principle of not
drinking water with worms, died. What
is your judgment in this regards?”
The Buddha said: “Such ignorance!
Don’t you know that the other bhikkhu
thanks to his not drinking water with
worms had met me before you reached
here? And you, even though you are
here, you never truly see me. Do you
understand?”
This teaching affirms that nowadays
Buddhist monks, nuns and followers
never see the Buddha because they
violate and break the law.

65
Only by drinking water with worms, it is
impossible to meet the Buddha; how can
the monks, nuns and followers who eat
other beings’ meat practice and attain
liberation?
Where is the Virtue of Love and
Compassion for Life in those who call
themselves Holy bhikkhus, bhikkhunis
and followers while eating other beings’
meat? Do these people know the Four
Immeasurable Minds of Buddhism?
Where are the Four Immeasurable Minds
in them? Without fulfilling the Virtue of
Love and Compassion for Life, they could
not become Holy monks, nuns and
followers.

66
If Holy monks, nuns and followers eat
meat, what kind of “Holy” is that? You
think and have the answer yourself.
Even a true lay follower of Buddhism
would not eat meat, so what’s the point
of reading through Buddhist canons
while monks and nuns still eat meat? Can
these monks and nuns be compared to
these lay followers?
Life identifies amongst the four groups of
Buddha’s disciples i.e.:
1. Male lay followers (upasakas)
2. Female lay followers (upasikas)
3. Monks (bhikkhus)

67
4. Nuns (bhikkhunis)
who are the Holy disciples of the Buddha
and who are the Duratama Mara 6
disguising as Buddha’s disciples?
Through the Virtue of Love and
Compassion for Life, we could distinguish
the true disciples from the untrue. Once
we realizethetrue Buddha’s disciples,we
should respect and support for the
everlasting existence of Buddhism.
How can Buddha’s disciples eat other
beings’ meat? So, is Buddhism worth
being the path of Love and Compassion?
Is it worth being the moral foundation
6 [translator] Demons of the sixth heaven (Duratama
Mara or Mara-papiman)

68
which is based on the causality law,
having human beings as its core and
helping people to live without giving
sorrows to self and others? Is it worth
being the Path of Wisdom? If it is a path
of wisdom, why is there consumption of
meat without sense of goodness and
evilness? If it is a path of wisdom, how can
there be indulgence in the craving of
eating?
To hide the vulgar and ferocious nature
following the worldly craving in eating,
some monks and nuns say: “Eat meat
without seeing, hearing, doubting”, and
“before His pass-away, the Buddha ate
meat of wild boar”. Such sayings are so

69
guilty that their negative effect would
last for innumerable lives. As a result,
nowadays monks and nuns could not
attain Arhat stage; it is due to the effect
of not fulfilling the Virtue of Love and
Compassion for Life. Though there are
monks who don’t eat meat, they don’t
have the heart of love for life as they
don’t practice the Four Immeasurable
Minds.
To slander the Buddha eating meat to
hide their crime is an act of deceit of
those under the cloak of Buddhism. It’s
the act of breaking Holy Virtues and
Conducts of Buddhism, subject to

70
Parajikas7 sentence, falling into hell and
being beheaded.
The heart of love for all life is a Holy
Virtue of the Buddhist monks and nuns.
Regardless of being a monk, nun or lay
follower, one should live completely in
accordance with this virtue; otherwise,
the debt of life would be so heavy in many
lives.
Any monks and nuns that go against this
Virtue of Love and Compassion for Life
are the monks and nuns of evil who feed
their bodies with flesh, bone and blood of
7 [translator] The first section of the Vinaya Pitaka
containing rules of expulsion from the order for unpardonable
sins

71
other beings – this could not be called
Holy disciples of the Buddha.
In the Eight Noble Paths, do you know
what Right Livelihood is?
Is sustaining one’s life with flesh, bone
and blood of other beings Right
Livelihood?
How can Right Livelihood be involved in
eating lives of other beings? Is keeping
one’s life in such a way Right Livelihood?
When one sustains his life without
creating sufferings to other beings, it is
Right Livelihood. People talk and preach
about Right Livelihood but they don’t live
accordingly.

72
Without Right Livelihood, it is no point in
becoming Buddha’s disciple, isn’t it?
Better not to follow Buddhism, but once
following the Buddha, one should live
exactly in accordance with the Buddha’s
teachings. Living not in accordance with
the Buddha’s teaching is to defame
Buddhism.
Therefore, one sustaining one’s life with
wrong livelihood could not be called a
disciple of the Buddha. There is no
benefit to become a Buddha disciple
while going against the truth of
Buddhism (The Truth of Cessation of
Suffering). The Eight Noble Paths are an
education and training program to teach

73
us a life of right conducts, which are
virtues for one to become true Human,
true Saint.
Life is the noble cherishing treatment
towards all beings that everyone has to
learn and practice, not only for Buddha’s
disciples.
In order to protect the life of all species on
this planet, we have to try our best to
correct ourselves, to live completely with
the Virtue of Love and Compassion for
Life. As Virtue of Love and Compassion
for Life is noble act, people should live
accordingly to spread out love to all

74
beings. Every species wishes to live, none
wants to die.
“Not to perform evilness,
Only to carry out goodness”.
“Prevent and eliminate evilness,
To start and raise goodness”.
So when you kill other beings to cook
food offering to monks, is it goodness? Is
it to start and increase goodness?
Do you know that you go against the
teachings of the Buddha?
In Jivaka Sutra, the Buddha taught that
a lay follower who killed living beings to
cook food and offered it to the monks

75
had five non-merits i.e. five sins. This is
due to the lack of thorough
understanding of the right Buddhist
teachings while only listening, knowing
and understanding the interpretation of
monks: “Eating without seeing, hearing,
and doubt”, or: “one while eating meat but
think of it as cabbage equals to eating
cabbage…”. These are words of lie to
deceive Buddhist followers. The monks
even deceive you more with arguments
so that they could swallow animal meat:
“Even Buddha ate meat….eating meat,
fish but think of it as cabbage means to eat
cabbage, despite your persistence, once in
the stomach all food is the same”.

76
Dear Buddhist followers! Where is the
Virtue of Love and Compassion for Life
that monks can chew and swallow meat?
Monks are Holy bhikkhus, while Holy lay
followers don’t violate this precept, how
can Holy bhikkhus violate this precept?
However, devotees have eyes but it is as
if they were blind, have ears but as if they
were deaf, have mind but as if they were
silly, don’t they?
In summary, in order to become a Holy
monk, nun, lay follower of the Buddha,
one has to strictly follow the precept of
Holy Virtue of Love and Compassion for
Life, even strictly following this precept is
not enough, one must also practice the

77
Four Immeasurable Minds: Love,
Compassion, Joy, and Let-go. Thanks to
sufficient practice of the Four
Immeasurable Minds, one could live
completely with love for all beings. Such
way of living manifests the Holy Virtue of
Love and Compassion for Life; do not
follow Tuệ Trung Thượng Sỹ, Mad monk
Ji Gong, Living Buddha of Golden
Mountain and Zen monk Fenyang
ShanZhao etc. who shamelessly ate meat
and drank alcohol like worldly people, we
could not have any more comments on
such cases.
***

78
SECOND PRECEPT: NOT TO BE
GREEDY AND STEAL
Not to be greedy and steal is the “VIRTUE
OF LETTING GO”. All monks, nuns and lay
followers need to learn to understand
and live in accordance with this virtue.
A person who has the virtue of letting go
does not accumulate or be greedy for
material property and fortune. One could
create wealth and fortune by his own
hands but should not let property and
fortune give you sorrows and should live
a simple life away from materials.

79
People with the virtue of letting-go often
see that worldly materials create “LIFE”.
Life means all things surrounding us and
creating a life of sufferings. The more
properties one has, the more sufferings
one has. It is, isn’t it?
People with the mind of letting-go,
staying away from worldly materials are
following the right method of the Buddha
and living in accordance with the
Conducts of Holy Upasakas and
Upasikas.
The Conduct of letting go is the
education of letting go worldly materials,
and only Buddhism has such monks, nuns

80
and lay followers. As Buddhist method
teaches “to let go of craving, to let go of
evilness”; therefore, the Virtue of Letting
go is very important for the four types of
Buddhist disciples.
If one doesn’t live strictly with the
demeanor of Virtue of Letting-go, one
could never eliminate the mind of craving
and stealing in oneself. If one could not
eliminate the mind of craving, there’s no
point in following Buddhism and what is
worse is that such people would defame
Buddhism.
In the life of practice, thanks to the Virtue
of Letting go, a Buddhist disciple will no

81
longer be greedy to steal and no longer
be interested in money and worldly
facilities. Their minds are very pure and
as white as a sea-shell.
In this world, if everyone immediately
lets go, people could sleep without
having to lock the door, without worrying
about theft; there would be no cheating,
deception, inaccurate weighing and
measuring etc.; there would be no one
who appropriates the fruit of other’s
labour, or snatching; and there would be
no bribery etc.
The Virtue of Let-go helps people who
lose their properties not to be saddened

82
or who have many properties would not
be attached. Those who are not attached
to the worldly materials and properties
are living in accordance with the Virtue of
Let-go and have a life of stability, peace
and happiness, and no sorrows related to
materials.
Virtue of Let-go doesn’t mean the
negativity of refusing to work. Vice versa,
those with Virtue of Let-go work harder
than anyone else. Why do they work so
much?
They work hard to live a good life, to
support others, to live without greed, it is
the VIRTUE OF LET-GO IN HARD WORKING.

83
Working hard and staying away from
greed, theft, cheating, deception means
the Virtue of Let-go. Working hard to
make properties without being attached
to facilities and money earned, it is a
good act of creating wealth to help
others. The act of helping others is the
virtue of let-go.
Therefore, the VIRTUE OF LET-GO always
goes hand-in-hand with the VIRTUE OF
HARD WORKING. One having the virtue of
let-go and the virtue of hard working
deserves to be one without greed or
theft, one who is Holy monk, nun, layman
and laywoman of the Buddha.

84
Such person knows how to live to
cultivate the virtue of let-go so that one’s
mind is not attached to materials,
money, valuables; so that one’s mind
stays away from greed, selfishness,
narrow-mindedness; so that one’s mind
stays away from greed, theft, deception
etc…yet in line with the virtue of hard
working. Thanks to living with the virtue
of hard working, one would not live on
society and not become a burden to
others.
Here, you should understand Buddhism
says that life is suffering but does not tell
you to evade life. To say that life is

85
suffering means to acknowledge the
truth that life is suffering. Knowing that
life is truly suffering is to overcome it,
rather not to be pessimistic to evade life.
To mention that life is suffering means to
point out the truth of a human life, rather
not to abandon life, to run away
(negative, pessimistic, keep away from
everyone’s life).
Here, saying that life is suffering is for us
together to practice to live with right
conducts and virtues of a right human
being, to love each other, to share with
each other, to give up one’s interest to
others, to contribute and work hard to

86
help to lessen or eliminate the sufferings
of life; rather not to know the sufferings
of life to abandon life, to look for a more
joyous, more peaceful and happier world
etc. as in the texts of heresy or other
teachings that build up the world of gods,
heaven, the Land of Ultimate Bliss,
Nirvana etc. to avoid sufferings of this
world; to dream of an illusive world of joy
and bliss. Live in accordance with the
expanded sect and other religions is
impractical as one could never live on the
salvation of others. If we always create
sufferings to ourselves and to others,
who can save us? Is that right?

87
Due to the dissemination of pessimistic,
negative, passive thoughts, nowadays
there are some pessimistic and negative
people who are fed up with this world and
look for another world of Gods, world of
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Land of Ultimate
Bliss, the world of Return to Origin, the
world of Monogenesis, the world of
Nirvana. Those people are full of craving,
running after desire, fame and wealth,
looking for more pleasures in other
worlds.
People with such yearning do not
cultivate the virtue of let-go. They are
discontented with this world of human

88
because they could not achieve the
pleasures, fame and wealth, not because
of their letting go.
One who lives to cultivate the virtue of
let-go does not mean to be discontented
with life in negativity and pessimism,
instead, they have been rebuilding well
the life, contributing to make this world
become one of Heaven, Utmost
Happiness. If people live with let-go
virtue, the world would no longer have
people stealing, robbing, and would not
become hell.
One who lives with right demeanor of the
Virtue of Let-go knows clearly that all

89
things of this world are ephemeral, there
is nothing permanent, eternal, there is no
world of eternity, this is merely our
imagination. All happenings are due to
the combination and departure of the
causing conditions. And therefore,
human beings need to protect and
rebuild the world that they have, to make
it better, brighter, with sufficient
morality in life.
Therefore, one cultivates the virtue of let-
go but also works hard for oneself, for
others, so that our presence is useful for
ourselves and for others, this is not the
evasion or abandoning of life as wrongly

90
thought by some people regarding
Buddhism.
The Virtue of Let-go helps us to live a life
of purity, without deception and greed,
without stealing, a life of peace and at
rest. Please remember that deception
and theft here not only include the act of
taking without permission but also other
acts of deception and craft such as:
- A worker goes on go-slow strike also
means theft
- A teacher in class while giving work
to pupils reads newspaper also
means theft

91
- A doctor receives gifts from patients
also means theft
- A policeman receives bribery to let
vehicles carrying tax-evaded
commodities into the city also means
theft
In summary, the Virtue of Let-go
conquers the mind of craving and theft,
helping body and mind not being
attached to worldly materials, allowing
the mind in peace, bliss and care-
freeness.
One who wishes to live with the Virtue of
Let-go has to constantly look into the
truth that all things are impermanent,

92
egoless, out of the combination of
causing conditions and of suffering
nature. In this worldly life, when a monk,
nun or lay followers live completely
according to the Virtue of Let-go, the
world would be Heaven, Land of Utmost
Happiness and how happy human’s life
would be.
***

93
THIRD PRECEPT: NOT TO
PERFORM SEXUAL ISCONDUCT
This is the “VIRTUE OF BEING FAITHFUL”.
Lay followers need to study, to
understand and live in accordance with
this virtue.
One who does not perform sexual
misconduct shows that their mind and
body are constant, loyal, grateful, and
truthful. If one still has sexual
misconduct, their mind and body cannot
be constant, loyal, grateful and truthful.
When one’s mind and body are not
constant, loyal, grateful and truthful, one

94
is always deceitful, disloyal, and
ungrateful. If the mind is still with sexual
misconduct, how can one be called Holy
lay follower. Is it right?
Therefore, the Virtue of Being Faithful
also identifies a Buddhist lay follower of
being constant, loyal, truthful to one’s
family. What’s the point of one following
Buddhism but one’s mind is not constant,
loyal and truthful to one’s family? This
also defames Buddhism as a Buddhist
follower but being disloyal, ungrateful,
unfaithful, and untruthful. This is
extremely disgraceful.

95
Dear Buddhist followers! A Holy lay
follower could never perform sexual
misconduct; with sexual misconduct, one
could not be a Holy lay follower. Is this
right?
The Virtue of Being Faithful is the virtue
of being consistent and having fast
affection for one’s wife or husband.
In family life, husband and wife share
conjugal happiness and stay together
during the ups and downs. Therefore,
one should be consistent and faithful.
Once getting married, one should not
commit adultery. To commit adultery
means to hurt one’s family and other’s

96
family, to devastate both families.
Children will suffer and hate parents all
their life. If one is a parent and does not
sacrifice one’s interest for the happiness
of children, it is immoral.
Therefore, a person who does not have
the virtue of being faithful is similar to
animals such as: dogs, bulls, cows, goats,
chicken, ducks etc.
A person who keeps the Virtue of Being
Faithful is the one who brings peace and
happiness to one’s family. One who
keeps the Virtue of Being Faithful is the
one who knows how to live without
creating sufferings for husband or wife,

97
children, parents and relatives of both
sides of the family.
In a family, the Virtue of Being Faithful is
a noble virtue, it is the god of happiness
for each family. Therefore, Buddhist
followers having family need to live and
practice in accordance with the Virtue of
Being Faithful as it is a necessity for
family protection.
***

98
FORTH PRECEPT: NOT TO TELL
LIE
This is the “VIRTUE OF BEING HONEST”.
Buddhist followers living at home need to
learn, understand and live with this virtue
to bring about benefits to oneself, to
others and to both.
The precept of not to tell lies is the Virtue
and Conduct of Being Honest. A person
who does not tell lies is a true human
being, ordinary people could not avoid
telling lies, even a white lie or a joke is still
a lie which still demolishes one’s credit.
Not to tell lies is a very hard thing to do,

99
therefore, as a human being, everyone
tells lie, whether a little or a lot, harmful
or harmless.
To tell lies is karma of the mouth8,
therefore, only human beings commit
the sin of telling lies, animals do not
commit this sin as they could not speak.
A person who does not tell lies is the one
of high credit; people would pay him
great respect, trust and profound
appreciation.
There are four parts of telling lies:
A- To lie
8 [translator] Karma of the mouth is one of the three
karmas. The other two are karma of the body and karma of
the mind.

100
B- To say harsh speech
C- To say differently with different
people on the same matter with a
negative intension.
D-To tell cheatings
There are many forms of telling lies:
1. To praise someone who is not as
good as the praise. Such a lie is a
flattery to win the senior’s heart.
To praise immoral activities of
others as moral means to tell lies.
2. To say that the Most Venerables
who had died in suffering
diseases entered into nirvana
means to tell lies as they did not
know how to enter into nirvana.

101
3. To say wrongly about something
is to tell lies. The Diamond Sutra
says: “Bodhisattvas having
rescued all beings will become
Buddhas” which means a person
who practices to get rid of all
thoughts will become a Buddha.
Such teaching is a lie, as when a
person finishes all thoughts his
mind will fall into “emptiness”
instead of becoming a Buddha.
Buddha actually means THE
MIND WHICH IS UNINFLUENCED9
in front of evilness and feelings,
9 [translator] The state of perfect equanimity of the mind
when it is free from greed, anger, ignorance, conceit, doubt.

102
rather than the mind without
thoughts or without distinction
or not staying anywhere etc.
4. In the Heart Sutra: “Practicing
deeply with the Insight that
Brings Us to the Other Shore
would discover that all of the five
Skandhas10 are equally empty”.
Such teaching is a lie as there has
not been anyone who could see
the five skandhas as empty. The
Lion Patriarch was killed because
of this lie. In pagodas, days and
10 [translator] Five skandhas (Sanskrit)
or khandhas (Pāḷi) are five aggregates that constitute a
human being. They are material form, feeling, imagination,
operation, and wisdom.

103
nights with four periods, people
recite and chant the Heart Sutra
and we have not seen anyone
truly going beyond sufferings, so
this sutra is a lie.
5. If someone does not see or hear
something but says that he or
she does see or hear it, this is a
lie.
6. If someone does see or hear
something but says that he or
she does not see or hear it, this is
a lie.
7. To fabricate, to slander others
means to tell lie.

104
8. Having doubt and telling things
which are not true, this is telling
lie.
9. To sing the praise without
adequate substance means to
tell lie.
10. To add or cut details, to
spread a rumour so that people
will make fun of someone: this is
telling lie.
11. To sing the praise of someone
in the wrong way is to tell lie.
12. A person who does not live in
accordance with the [Buddhist]
laws and principles while
adopting the appearance of a

105
monk/nun to call one’s self as
monk/nun, this is telling lie.
13. To talk ill of one person to
other person and vice versa, this
is telling lie.
14. To talk nice of people in front
of them and talk ill at their back,
this is telling lie.
15. To criticize others in the
wrong way i.e. without adequate
comprehension of others’
knowledge means to tell lie.
16. To criticize the Buddha’s laws
and principles as out of date
means to tell lie.

106
17. To criticize that an Arhat still
has habit energy without having
adequate understanding and
knowledge of a person attaining
Arhat fruition is telling lie.
18. To invent many Arhat
fruitions as in the Mahayana
canons: 1- Arhats with full
enlightenment, 2- Arhats who
are independently awakened, 3-
Sound-hearer Arhat etc. This is a
lie, because the fruit of attaining
Arhat means to be totally free
from all sufferings11; anyone who
11 [translator] this means to be free from craving, anger,
ignorance, ego and doubt.

107
practices and attains the status
of being totally free from all
sufferings is the one who attains
the fruit of Arhat. There is no
hierarchy in Arhat fruition; to
invent the hierarchy for Arhat
fruition is of mundane thought or
worldly way of thinking. It is a lie
when a person who has not
attained the Arhat status invents
Arhat fruitions. Therefore, to
praise or to defame, or to create
division not in accordance with
the truth are to tell lie.
19. To say something that others
could not understand with their

108
mind but with their imagination
means to tell lie. For example, it
is a lie saying that there exist
souls of the dead, the Buddha-
nature, the metaphysical world,
it is imaginary and unreal.
20. Saying that there is self and
soul in human beings is to tell lie.
Previously, the Buddha taught:
“If I say something that people
understand and perceive with
their mind, it means I don’t tell
lie. If I say something that people
have to understand it with their
imagination, it means there is lie
in my sayings”.

109
21. Saying that the Buddha-
nature is the awareness outside
the knowing of mind, of
imagination and of wisdom is to
tell lie, as apart from the
mentioned three knowings,
there is no other knowing.
22. Saying that the metaphysical
world exists i.e. souls of the dead
exist is to tell lie, people say so
without knowing that what they
call souls is created by the
aggregate of imagination of a
living person.
23. Saying that there exist
heavenly realm and Utmost

110
Happiness realm means to tell lie
as there is no such realms and
they are created by the
imagination of human beings.
24. Saying that human world is
real is also a lie, as human world
is the world of combination of
causing conditions. Once there is
combination, there is also
departure, and so life and death
are the combination and
departure of causing conditions.
There is nothing real as all is just
combination and departure,
saying that it is real is a lie. Why
is that? As human world is the

111
combination of causing
conditions, there is no real-self.
Saying that human world is real
is to say from imagination, it is as
illusive as in the heterodox texts.
25. Saying that human beings
reincarnated from the Light-
sound heaven to the human
world is to tell lie, because with
such saying, humans could only
perceive it via imagination
instead of the understanding of
the mind.
As a result the Buddha taught: “If I say
something that people understand and
perceive with their mind, it means I

112
don’t tell lie. If I say something that
people have to understand it with their
imagination, it means there is lie in my
sayings”. Saying something that people
don’t understand or understand
ambiguously, without details and clarity
is to tell lie.
A right Buddhist monk or nun never say
anything that wriggles like an eel: “both
exist and not exist” (form is emptiness,
emptiness is form), such saying is a lie, a
deception, a cheating. We would like to
repeat the above. In the Heart Sutra:
“Practicing deeply with the Insight that
Brings Us to the Other Shore would
discover that all of the five Skandhas are

113
equally empty”. Such teaching is a lie as
for uncountable generations since the
introduction of this saying, in pagodas
people have been reciting and chanting
this on daily basis and have their five
skandhas become empty?
If the five skandhas are empty, why have
they still suffered from diseases?
If the five skandhas are empty, why are
there huge pagodas with big statues?
If the five skandhas are empty, why are
they still so greedy, angry and ignorant?
Obviously, the saying is deceptive, is to
tell lie to mislead people.

114
The Lotus Sutra says: “Even someone has
committed a tremendous mountain of
crime, [such crime would be erased] only
by chanting a few lines of Lotus Sutra”.
This teaching is a lie. Has there been
anyone committed robbery, murder and
thus been imprisoned and sentenced to
death and just by chanting the Lotus
Sutra such person can be released and
freed from the death sentence?
The virtue of not to tell lie is the virtue
and conduct related to the karma of the
mouth, therefore, when we say
something or expound the sutra or
lecture on any canon, we have to say the
meaning with our first-hand experience

115
of practice in details and with clarity, this
is not to tell lie; otherwise if we teach
something that we ourselves have not
practiced and attained practical results,
such teaching is a lie. When we teach and
people accordingly practice and attain
liberation practically, this is telling the
truth; when we teach and people could
not attained practical result, this is telling
lie. The Buddha has affirmed: “My
Dharma is not time consuming, you
come to practice and see the result”.
This is how the Buddha has asserted that
his teaching is not a lie.
Therefore, the liberation comes together
with the practice of the Dharma, such

116
method is not a lie. Therefore, the
method of contemplation of Buddhism is
very clear: “prevent evilness, eliminate
evilness”, this is a method leading to
evident liberation. As when we prevent
and eliminate evilness we clearly see the
freedom in our heart.
Those who know what evilness is but fail
to prevent and eliminate it do not salvage
themselves. Those who prevent and
eliminate evilness will finish their
sufferings. Such is true method, no lie at
all, as the method teaches that one will
attain immediate result in proportion to
the extent of their practice. Such
teaching nurtures us to become human

117
beings who do not tell lie. Such preachers
are the keepers of the Virtue of Honesty.
One who has attained the Arhat fruition
gives lecture and teaches others to
practice, he does not tell lie.
Those who have not practiced and
attained the Arhat status but give
lectures and teach others are liars even
though they teach in accordance with the
meaning of the canons. Due to the lack of
practical experience, their teachings fail
to lead others to the result of liberation.
As a result, it turns out to be a lie.
In the time of the Buddha, he did not
allow those who had not attained full

118
enlightenment to teach because without
full enlightenment,they would kill people
instead of rescuing them. You can see the
present evidence, the number of
Buddhist followers is huge but who has
mastered the life, aging, sickness and
death? Yet it costs people billions in
constructing pagodas and Buddha
statues and their energy and time to
practice, but what is their result?
As Ananda had not reached to the final
truth, each time when the Buddha
appointed him to teach, he told Ananda
to tell people before teaching: “This is
what I’ve heard from the teachings of the
Buddha”, “I once heard when the Buddha

119
was at Shravasti”. Nowadays, all
Mahayana canons put these sentences in
each sutra.
“My Dharma is not time consuming, you
come to practice and see the result”.
This teaching shows us that the method
of the Buddha is very practical and in
details. As the method gives immediate
results, for example in a teaching of the
Buddha: “My mind is greedy, I know my
mind is greedy…”. Once we know our
mind is greedy, we know that it is
evilness; once we know it is evilness, we
will quickly stop such greed, and we are
liberated right there, aren’t we?

120
If you know your mind contains anger,
you will immediately stop such anger,
you will get liberation right there,
otherwise if you don’t stop that anger,
you suffer. Is that true?
The method of the Buddha is practical,
isn’t it? However, nowadays many
people teach impractical Buddhist
methods such as: To sit and suppress the
mind so that there would not be any
thought; chanting Buddha’s name so
that there is no other thought than the
Buddha’s name, chanting sutras to ask
for things etc. Can these practices
eliminate greed, anger, ignorance? Are
they practical and in details as the

121
Buddha’s teachings mentioned above?
So to sit and suppress the mind so that
there would not be any thought; chanting
Buddha’s name so that there is no other
thought than the Buddha’s name to have
rebirth in Pure Land, chanting sutras to
ask for Buddhas’ protection from
accidents etc. are all lies, they are not
true methods, simply deceit to cost
people’s finance and energy for nothing
good.
The Virtue of Honesty has confirmed that
the majority of preachers nowadays are
liars. They tell lies because they teach
what they have not practiced (not fully
enlightened). The Mahayana canons

122
teach: “Follow the teachings, not follow
the people”. This teaching covers the lies
of preachers. Telling others to follow laws
and principles while they themselves do
not follow is to tell lie. Teaching others to
attain Holy fruitions while the preacher
has not attained Holy fruition is to tell lie.
Without practical experience, how can
they attain full enlightenment?
In summary, when we have not
completed our practice, we should be as
quiet as a Saint. It is to tell lie to teach
others without being fully enlightened;
people should be aware of such
counterfeit Sages. They are “fake”
Boddhisattvas and only tell lies.

123
The Virtue of not to tell lie is to identify
those who strictly follow laws and
principles. They are Holy monks, nuns
and followers; they are true disciples of
the Buddha. On the opposite, those who
violate, break and crumb the laws and
principles and often tell lies are Duratama
Mara, disguising in Buddhist form to
cheat people and uproot Buddhism.
***

124
FIFTH PRECEPT: NOT TO DRINK
ALCOHOL
Not to drink alcohol is the “VIRTUE OF
BEING SOBER”. A Buddhist disciple needs
to learn to properly understand and live in
accordance with this virtue and conduct
so as not to create sufferings for self, for
others and for both.
A person with the Virtue of Being Sober
could not let their body and mind
contracted in worldly evilness such as:
cigarettes, coffee, tea, heroin, opium and
any kind of alcohols making people
drunk, addicted, making their body

125
ailing, their nerves tense, confused,
making people crazy and insane etc. such
things make people addicted and not
able to quit.
In the life of human beings, there are so
many worldly evils that make people’s
mind and body attracted and addicted to.
Alcohol is a poisonous liquid, drinking it
will stimulate the body and make people
act as if they were crazy, walking with
tottering steps, falling backward and
forward, lying anywhere regardless clean
or dirty, uttering gibberish, repeating a
sentence for many times, and such things

126
take away the feeling of respect from
others.
Those drinking alcohol are not wise,
actually they are the most stupid.
- Firstly, they lose money in buying
alcohol.
- Secondly, they unconsciously bring
poison into their body. Alcohol
brings diseases which are difficult
to treat to the body and makes the
mind doltish and not lucid.
- Thirdly, alcohol makes people
become greedy in eating, in
drinking, easy to get into fighting,

127
insulting spouses, children and
neighbors.
- Fourthly, a drunk person could
disturb the neighborhood and
public security.
A person’s value would deteriorate when
he is drunk, let alone a Buddhist disciple,
there is no good value in a drunk Buddhist
disciple, isn’t there?
Once getting drunk and being excited,
the drunk see themselves as the highest
and above all others and thus using
haughty words, exalting self and
depreciating others, insulting others,
shouting, abusing bad words, swearing
etc.

128
What sort of Buddhist disciple with a
glass of wine or can of beer is it?
Even with ordinary people drinking
alcohol, others would see them as
unwise, not perspicacious, and unkind
toward themselves. Taking poison into
their body to hurt themselves is an action
of crazy people or people who have lost
their minds.
It is said that: the immortals often drink
alcohol (immortal alcohol). Is this true?
Such saying is stemmed from the
imagination of human beings for those
who fully enjoy worldly pleasures without
hard working. In fact, when a person

129
leaves for practice in the forest, where
can they have alcohol to drink? Who
would make alcohol for them to drink?
Such image of the immortal is only the
imagination of human beings!
The Virtue of Being Sober shows us that
the Holy, the Immortal, the Buddha are
sober, perspicacious. How can one be
sober and perspicacious if he drinks
alcohol?
If an Immortal drinks alcohol, he is not an
Immortal but rather an ordinary person
enjoying eating and drinking. An
Immortal is one with pure mind and body,

130
being wise and lucid and therefore would
not take alcohol.
If a person is drowned in alcohol, he could
not be called an Immortal but instead a
Stupid. Only the stupid get addicted and
hurt their mind and body. Is this true?
Such people hurt themselves, their
spouses and children and parents.
Alcohol is bitter and brings many
suffering diseases etc.
People without right understanding
consider Li Bai as an Immortal. The truth
is Li Bai is a drunk poet. With alcohol, he
could write poems, without alcohol, he
could not write poems.

131
According to the teachings of the
Buddha’s sutras: there are five standards
for a true human being and drinking is a
standard for not deserving to be a true
human being. A drinking person is not a
true human being. Virtues and conducts
are used for distinguishing the Holy, the
Immortal, the Buddha from humans and
animals. The standard of virtues and
conducts clearly identifies who is animal,
who is human, who is Holy, who is
Immortal, and who is Buddha. The Virtue
of Being Sober certifies this.
And so in Buddhism, laws and principles
are used to identify and classify: how to
be a true human, how to be a true

132
Immortal, how to be a true Holy and how
to be a true Buddha. It is easy to meet
animal standard, but it is not easy to
meet the standard of a true human being,
therefore Confucius said: “it is difficult to
be a human being”. It is thousand-fold
difficult to be Holy, Immortal, and
Buddha.
Such standard is set out by Buddhism via
daily life conducts; it is cheating to call
anyone who does not meet such
standard as human, Holy, Immortal,
Buddha.
And so, from the perspective of Buddhist
standards, we could differentiate a true

133
human, Holy, Immortal, Buddha from the
fake. No one can cheat us. Is this right?
The five virtues of a Buddhist follower let
us know clearly the true Buddhist
followers and the fake ones in Buddhism.
By violating only one amongst the five
Virtues, one is not a Buddhist follower.
I would like to repeat, a Buddhist follower
holding a glass of wine or a can of beer
does not deserve the standards of a Holy
Buddhist follower; similarly a Buddhist
follower holding a cigarette does not
deserve the meaning of a Holy Buddhist
follower, a Buddha’s disciple. Is this
right?

134
This virtue prohibits alcohol as alcohol is
an addictive substance which easily
attracts people. Apart from alcohol, we
need to understand there are other
addictive substances such as: cigarette,
tea, coffee, drug etc. though the Buddha
did not mention, we should know that
these are poisonous substances that
bring illness and diseases to our body and
sufferings to us. As such, there would be
no value of a true Buddhist follower in
someone smoking cigarette and fuming.
Is this right?
A Buddhist follower could not drown
oneself in these poisonous substances,
because being drowned in them means

135
there is no right demeanor of a Buddhist
follower.
A Buddhist follower is a representative
for the morality of living without giving
sufferings to oneself, other people and all
beings. How can such representative of
morality smoke cigarette?
It doesn’t matter if one is not a Buddhist
follower (upasaka or upasika); however, if
a person is an upasaka or upasika who has
taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and
Sangha, he or she needs to be in the right
conduct of a Buddhist disciple;
otherwise, any violation would lead to
defamation of the Dharma, of Buddhism

136
and in such case who will be responsible
for such crime?
So Buddhist followers breaking the law at
present will bear the crime of falling into
hell. Prior to the time of death, they will
have to suffer from serious diseases,
suddengraveillness with unlimitedpains.
Don’t say that this is karmic payoff or
accumulation of karma. Holy Buddhist
followers should be able to make
“transformation”, with transformation
how could one have such suffering
feelings? The saying of “karmic payoff,
karmic accumulation” is only words of
deception to cover up their sins.

137
An upasaka or upasika fully following the
five precepts will know his or her date and
time of death with slight disease and pass
away peacefully without much
sufferings. And in the opposite, for those
violating and breaking the law and failing
in all Holy demeanors and leading to
depravation of Buddhism, they will suffer
huge pains and great misery at the time
of death.
The example of those violating the laws
reminds others to avoid such path of
failure.
Is there anything good in alcohol,
cigarette etc. to be attracted to? Alcohol,

138
cigarette, drug etc. are poisonous
substances that everyone should stay
away from. Someone still enjoying
alcohol, cigarette etc. should not take
refuges in the Three Jewels and Five
Precepts.
Buddhist followers are Holy disciples of
the Buddha and therefore should
abandon and stay away from alcohol,
cigarette and other addictive substances.
It does not matter if you are not a
Buddha’s disciple; however, if you are,
then you have to give up such easily
attractive sensual pleasures.

139
Dear all upasakas and upasikas! We need
to respect the Virtues and Conducts that
the Buddha has taught us, no despising is
allowed and strict discipline is required,
no drinking of alcohol or smoking of
cigarettes etc. at all.
Weneed tobewiseand sober to conserve
the Virtue of Being Sober of Holy
disciples of the Buddha who are not
drowned in drinking and smoking.
The Wisdom of Buddhism includes not
only the tremendous knowledge but also
the understanding of not creating
sufferings for self, for others and for all
beings.

140
A person who does not drink alcohol has
the knowledge of not giving sorrows to
oneself, others and both; this person is
wise and lucid.
The Virtue of Being Sober helps people
no longer be blindly drowned in smoking
cigarettes and drinking alcohol.
The disciples of the Buddha are the
disciples of the Wisdom, of the
Intelligence, of the Perspicacity.
Therefore, the Virtue of Being Sober is
such wisdom and perspicacity.
You have learned six virtues within the
five precepts. And so these virtues bring
tremendous benefits to your life. You

141
should think about the tremendous
benefits of the six virtues as mentioned
above. Is this right? If it is right, you
should join your hands in front of you and
vow that: “From now on, I promise to do
my best to follow the five precepts to
perform the six virtues of a true human
being; to deserve being a human and a
disciple of the Buddha”.
After your wish, make a bow to the
Buddha to accept the five precepts…And
now, I announce to end the ceremony of
Accepting the Three Jewels and Five
Precepts.
***

142
ADVICE
Dear all Buddhist followers! After the
ceremony of taking the Three Refuges
and accepting the Five Precepts, on
monthly basis you should come to the
monastery to practice the virtues and
conducts of a true human in a day. It
is the responsibility and obligation of
a Buddhist follower taking Three
Refuges and Five Precepts.
Only by learning the laws, principles,
virtues and conducts for true humans,
can you become people of right

143
virtues and conducts, without such
learning you cannot become virtuous
people. People without right virtues
could not become Buddhist followers.
Is this right?
Though you have taken the Three
Refuges and Five Precepts for 10 or
20 years, if you do not live in
accordance with the five precepts of
virtues and conducts, you are not a
disciple of the Buddha. As Buddhist
disciple means a child of the Buddha.
A child of the Buddha has to live with
virtues and could not be otherwise;
someone who lives like an ordinary

144
worldly person cannot be called
Buddhist disciple or one that has
already taken ceremony of taking
Three Refuges and Five Precepts. Is
this right?
A Buddhist disciple from the start of
entering Buddhism has to take the five
precepts i.e. to accept the five
precepts of virtues and conducts.
These five precepts of virtues and
conducts bring tremendous benefits
to the life of all those following the
steps of the Buddha. Therefore, you
need to learn and practice these five
precepts. Without learning and

145
practicing the five precepts of virtues
and conducts, you would never
deserve being a Buddhist disciple and
never become a Buddhist follower.
Dear all Buddhist followers! Taking
the Five Precepts means you have
accepted the five precepts. Accepting
the five precepts means accepting the
five virtues to be a true human, as
such you should not think little of and
overlook these virtues. Overlooking
these virtues means to miss priceless
things that could not be substituted by
anything in this world. Failing to
notice these virtues means huge

146
disadvantages in your life, and life
after life continuously you will
undergo lots of sufferings. Only by
holding tightly these five precepts can
you escape the animal nature to
become true human in Buddhism, to
be able to transform your evil karmic
debts created from many lives.
Thanks to that, you and your family
will be in peace and happiness.
These five precepts are not many;
they are not complicated, difficult,
and unattainable for human being,
they are not out of your reach. But
why don’t you keep them? They are

147
the five standards for one to become
a true human being. If any one of the
five is not met, the person still has
cruel nature of animals. Do you
notice this?
Take the Three Refuges and Five
Precepts means to practice to live in
goodness. To live in goodness means
to be able to transform the suffering
karma of self and family. Therefore,
when a person take the Three Refuges
and Five Precepts, both the person
and his or her family are in peace and
good health. In case of having taken
the Three Refuges and Five Precepts

148
for a long time but the person and
his/her family still get sickness from
time to time, having accidents quite
often and thus their life is in sadness,
restlessness, sufferings etc., this
means that the person has only taken
the Three Refuges and Five Precepts
for the sake of the ceremony, for the
form, for the name of a Buddhist
disciple etc. This means that to take
refuge in Buddhism but fail to
precisely follow Buddhist teachings.
You should do you best to learn,
improve yourself and live rightly
according to these virtues and

149
conducts so as not to be ungrateful to
the Buddha, to my teachings; to bring
peace to yourself, to others and to all
beings on this planet; to transform
this world into a world of Heaven, of
Highest Happiness.
With full respects,
Chon Nhu Monastery

150
Determined To Practice
Be determined to practice
without withdrawal in the life
time
Keep the body and mind in
peace and happiness
Reach to the state of
meditation, go beyond the
cause-and-effect
Attain the full enlightenment
and lead people to happiness.
Chon Nhu

151
Live Alone
He who sits alone, rests alone,
walks alone, unindolent, who
in solitude controls himself,
will find delight in the forest.
Dhammapāda

152
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE............................................................................4
PART 1: TAKING REFUGE IN THE THREE JEWELS ....... 10
FIRST – THE BUDDHA ................................................ 13
SECOND – THE DHARMA...........................................24
THIRD – THE SANGHA ...............................................29
PART 2: OBSERVING THE FIVE PRECEPTS...................49
FIRST PRECEPT: NOT TO KILL...................................54
SECOND PRECEPT: NOT TO BE GREEDY AND
STEAL.......................................................................... 78
THIRD PRECEPT: NOT TO PERFORM SEXUAL
MISCONDUCT.............................................................93
FORTH PRECEPT: NOT TO TELL LIE..........................98
FIFTH PRECEPT: NOT TO DRINK ALCOHOL ........... 124
ADVICE..................................................................... 142

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