Page 93 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

people abstain from theft, i.e. do not steal. The first person
would like to steal, perhaps very much so, but he abstains out of

fear of the police. (This is the morality of many people). The
second person has a slight inclination towards dishonesty.
When filling in his income tax return he may be seriously

tempted to cheat, but because he is trying to lead a spiritual life
he resists the temptation. The inclination is there, but it is

restrained. But the third person has completely eradicated
craving. In his case there is no tendency, no inclination, even,
towards dishonesty. The first person, who abstains from theft

through fear of the police, is moral only in the legalistic sense.
The second person, who feels an inclination to steal and

overcomes it, is moral in the sense that he is practicing Right
Action in the narrower, 'disciplinary' sense. Only the third, who
abstains because it is natural for him to do so, is really practicing

Perfect Action.

The Five Silas and the Five Dharmas
The best known pattern of ethical behaviour is that of the Five
Silas, generally known as the Five Precepts. The Five Precepts, as

usually transmitted, are negative in form. They tell us what not
to do. In the case of each precept, however, there is a positive

counterpart. It is very significant that in modern Buddhist
teaching the positive counterpart is far less widely known than
the negative formulation. Many will have heard of the Five Silas

who have never heard of the Five Dharmas, as the five positive
counterparts are called. In this context, the Five Dharmas may

be translated as the Five Ethical Principles. We shall briefly
consider both the Five Precepts and the Five Dharmas, one by
one, examining first the negative and then the positive

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