The Pratimoksha ethical code
27 Following in the Buddha's Footsteps
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Volume 4 Following in the Buddha's Footsteps 
Oct 25, 2024 Part of an ongoing series of teachings based on the book Following in the Buddha's Footsteps, the fourth volume in The Library of Wisdom and Compassion series by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Venerable Thubten Chodron.
- Review of precepts for lay practitioners
- Different types of ethical codes for monastics
- Precepts for ordained monks and ordained nuns
- Prcepts for novice monastics and training nuns
- Origin of precepts
- Adapations and exceptions of precepts
- Different levels of precepts to be more mindful of actions of body and speech
- Three extant Vinaya traditions
- Different kinds of infractions and how to purify and restore one’s precepts
- Taking precepts with a proper motivations
- How monastic precepts are taken and learned in the three Vinaya traditions
27 The Pratimoksha Ethical Code (download)
Contemplation points
- Consider each of the precepts included in the five lay precepts, the eight one-day precepts, and the ten taken in the novice ordination. What kinds of actions are included in each of these precepts? What are the reasons behind them?
- Consider that the precepts are not rigid vows or laws, but rather they are guidelines meant to help us train our mind so that we can keep them better and better throughout our lives. When we transgress them, we purify. How does this view help us to learn from our mistakes?
- What are some proper and improper motivations for taking precepts?
- Becoming a monastic is more than just taking precepts. What are some other trainings and practices that are part of living a monastic life?
Venerable Thubten Chodron
Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.
