Reply #7: 1. Do not Kill [View All]

[mtf80123]

One must not deliberately kill any living creatures, either by committing the act oneself, instructing others to kill, or approving of or participating in act of killing. It is a respect to others' lives.

One should not deprive others (animals not excluded) of the right to live. If one is hurt or killed, one's family, relatives, friends will suffer. It is the cause of rebirth in Three Evil Paths. The effect of killing to the performer are brevity of life, ill health, handicapped and fear.

In observing the first precept, one tries to protect life whenever possible. Furthermore, one cultivates the attitude of loving kindness to all beings by wishing that they may be happy and free from harm.

Five conditions of panatipata (Killing)

1. The being must be alive.
2. There must be the knowledge that it is a live being.
3. There must be an intention to cause death.
4. An act must be done to cause death.
5. There must be death, as the result of the said act.

If all the said five conditions are fulfilled, this precept is violated.


In the Flower Adornment Sutra, it says that

For all bad Karma created in the past,
Based upon beginningless greed, hatred and delusion,
And born of body, mouth and mind,
I now repent and reform.

It is the well known Repentance Verse in Buddhism. In Buddhism, the distinction between what is good and what is bad is simple. It hinges on the intention or motivation from which an action originates. The deed which is associated with greed/attachment, hatred/ill will, delusion/stupidity is evil.

Greed, hatred and delusion are called the Three Poisons of the Mind... or Three Evil Roots, which are the primary source of all evil deeds. It is these "Three Poisons of the Mind" that create all bad Karma, resulting "all" kinds of suffering in accordance with the "Principle of Cause and Effect". The Three Poisons are also obstacles to the attainment of good Karma. Thus we have to abandon them by all means.