Five lay vows

A tablet with an inscription of the five vows at Lumbini

The five lay vows (Skt. upāsakaṃvara; Tib. དགེ་བསྙེན་གྱི་སྡོམ་པ་, Wyl. dge bsnyen gyi sdom pa) — lay people can take one or several of these five vows or precepts, which are the basic vows that underpin the Buddhist way of life. They are the vows:

1. not to kill,
2. not to steal,
3. not to lie,
4. not to commit sexual misconduct, and
5. not to take any intoxicants.

Internal Links

• Pratimoksha vows

Further Reading

• Thich Nhat Hanh, For a Future to Be Possible (1993; Parallax Press Revised edition, 2007)