Precepts For Beginners (Part 2): The Three Pure Precepts

“The first bite is to discard all evil; the second bite is so that we may train in perfection; the third bite is to help all beings.” -OBC mealtime ceremonial

“Shit don’t change until you get up and wash your ass” -Kendrick Lamar


Sometimes we run into situations that aren’t covered by the Ten Great Precepts or we end up in a moral dilemma where we are faced with breaking a precept to avert something worse.

For help navigating these stormy waters, we turn to the Three Pure Precepts.

1.Cease from evil.
2. Do good.
3. Do good for others.

A review is in order: Precepts are not for punishing ourselves or judging others. They’re a way to see how things are going. We can use them as a preventative measure. We can look back when things have gone wrong and seen if we may have broken or misapplied a precept.

We need to be careful when we talk of ‘good’ and ‘evil’; it’s easy to let those words trip us up. Often when we use them, we allow judgement to creep in. Remember, we aren’t talking about good or evil people; we’re talking about good and evil behaviours.

On another level, even the behaviours are not good or evil, at least not in the sense that some need to be condemned and others sanctified. Instead of seeing actions as worthy of blame or worthy of praise, maybe it’s more important to look at them in terms of how helpful they are in reducing suffering for ourselves and others.

We can also look at the skill in which we execute those behaviours and the intentions behind them. After all, none of us is perfect and none of us can ever know what will happen. All we can do is make choices, accept consequences, and adjust as necessary.

I also wanted to take a moment to talk about the order of the three precepts. I’ve found it helpful to check my behaviours against each of the Pure Precepts in that order without skipping any. After all, it’s very easy to convince ourselves that we are doing something for the good of others without taking a look as to whether it is actually a good action.

Something to think about, anyway.

Like the Ten Great Precepts, the Three Pure Precepts feel overwhelming. I have to do all this stuff forever? I can’t even remember them all.

We don’t have to keep them forever.

We only have to keep them now. For this breath, we keep them, because this breath is all we have. We can do nothing about the mistakes we’ve already made in the past. The future is ahead of us and unknowable in the dark.

But we have now.

We always do.