GESHE SHERAB TOUR: Eight Mahayana Precepts

(IN-PERSON) Make your life highly meaningful—so easily and with only small hardships—while collecting a great deal of merit. Precepts days are powerful. By taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts for just one day, every meritorious act you do is greatly multiplied. It also protects you from creating new negative karma (which would also be multiplied!).

Taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts is such an easy thing to do: just 24 hours and inconceivable merit with each precept, to live in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings of ethical conduct and compassion. These vows are taken for 24 hours, from first light before dawn until sunrise the following day. They are:

1. Not to kill, even insects.
2. Not to steal (take what is not offered).
3. Not to engage in sexual contact.
4. Not to lie.
5. Not to use intoxicants: alcohol, tobacco, and drugs (except medicinal).
6. Not to eat at wrong times*.
7. Not to sit on high, expensive beds or seats with pride; avoid sitting on animal skins.
8. Not to wear jewelry, perfume, or makeup; and not to sing, dance, or play music with attachment.

*You may eat a light breakfast before or after taking the precepts. Avoid black foods: meat, eggs, onions, garlic, and radishes. The main meal of the day should be finished by midday. After that, only light drinks—no undiluted whole milk or fruit juice with pulp—until sunrise the next day.

These Mahayana Precepts enable you to live in the essence of pure moral conduct. Since you take them with the strong motivation of cherishing and wishing to benefit all beings, their value is immeasurable. This practice builds, maintains, and increases deep propensities for spiritual attainment—a profound method for giving meaning to this precious human life.

A Rare Opportunity
The first time we take the precepts, it is best to receive them directly from a Lama in an unbroken lineage from Shakyamuni Buddha. This is a rare chance to take the vows in person from a qualified Geshe and vow-holder. For many of us, this will be our first time.

It is especially good to take these precepts on full and new moon days, and even more beneficial on Buddha Holy Days such as today (Losar, Tibetan New Year), when karmic results are multiplied exponentially (according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, citing the Vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic).