[KCI-Indexed] Exploring Behavioral Strategies for the Social Practice of Buddhist Precepts

Abstract

The loss of ethics leads to disruption of society and its members. As a way to overcome this, identifying and utilizing existing assets will be advantageous in terms of error prevention and cultural familiarity. Buddhist ethics, which has been handed down through a long tradition, fits this bill, but its characteristics are underutilized. In an effort to overcome this, it is necessary to explore the ethically valid and practicable elements of Buddhist precepts.

This paper will proceed by integrating literature centered around the early Buddhist Pāli's Paṭimokkha, combining early scriptures, theses, academic journals, and traditional cases from the forests of Thailand. The selection of the Paṭimokkha is due to its maintenance and practice in Southeast Asian monasticism, deemed as the most proximate literature to the teachings of the Buddha.

The scope of the discussion will be the non-religious, actionable items from the Pāli's Paṭimokkha that have ethical and universal relevance. The primary objective is to extract items that Buddhists and laypeople should be able to accept and practice without difficulty, and to extract ethical items from early Buddhism that are generally practiced by modern people.

Exploring a "conduct manual" within Buddhist culture, this paper discusses ① persuasive language use, ② benefits through repetition three times, and "language actions based on etiquette," while discussing the benefits obtained through ③ speaking softly and ④ maintaining a "quiet and calm" mindset, with the expectation that this will serve as the basis for the development of an "actual conduct manual."

The purpose of this study is to propose the creation of a "conduct manual" by extracting practicable items of vinaya, not sīla (戒), and organizing them. This will be an opportunity for the development of the Buddhist world and the establishment of practical ethics.

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