The Five Precepts in Buddhist Philosophy and the Ten Commandments in Christian Philosophy : An Analytical Study

Abstract

The objectives of this thesis are; 1) to study the Five Precepts in Buddhist philosophy, 2) to study the Ten Commandments in Christian philosophy, and 3) to analyze the Five Precepts in Buddhist philosophy and the Ten Commandments in Christian philosophy. It is a documentary qualitative research collecting the data from the Tipitaka, commentaries, sub-commentaries, the Bible; the Old and New Testaments, Buddhist academic documents, and other related research works.
The results of the study indicated that: 1. The Five Precepts in Buddhist philosophy refer to five rules to undertake the training to abstain from five negative actions; to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants causing heedlessness. 2. The Ten Commandments in Christian philosophy refer to the ten rules of God or the morality in Christianity; No other gods before The Jesus Christ, Not make idols, Not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, Remember the Sabbath Day, Honor your father and mother, Not kill, Not commit adultery, Not steal, Not bear false witness against your neighbor, and No covet. 3. The analysis on the Five Precepts in Buddhist philosophy and the Ten Commandments in Christian philosophy shows the relationship and similarity between the first precept, to abstain from killing and the sixth commandment, Not killing; the second precept, to abstain from stealing and the eighth commandment, not steal, and the tenth commandment, No covet; the third precept, to abstain from sexual misconduct and the seventh commandment, Not commit adultery; the fourth precept, to abstain from false speech, and the ninth commandment, Not bear false witness against your neighbor. As for the fifth precept, to abstain from intoxicants causing heedlessness, there are no exactly the same rules in Christianity. There is a saying in the Bible, however, “Don’t be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life”. This can be implied that drinking alcohol is also considered a negative action in Christianity. The analysis on the relationship and difference shows that Buddhism has systematic teachings regarding fundamental moral and ethics; the Five Precepts and the Five Virtues. These two sets of teachings support each other in practice. In Christianity, the religion and morality cannot be separated. When talking about the religion, moral rules are naturally included. New Testament teaches about peace and loving-kindness towards other human beings which has firmly been emphasized by Lord Jesus Christ. Love is the greatest commandment in Christianity. This Love is universal, boundless, and endless.