Ethics

The Need for Ethics Responding to others or to ourselves with balanced sensitivity entails refraining from destructive, harmful behavior and engaging in constructive, helpful acts. Restraint from destructive behavior sets the foundation. For example, if we have not...

Secular ethics, based on universal values such as warm-heartedness, is the key to happiness.

[Clarification of His Holiness' answers by Dr. Berzin are included within square brackets.] The Vow Not to Lose Seminal Energy-Drops Dr. Berzin: Many Westerners are married, what about the Kalachakra close bond of not losing (mi-nyams) seminal energy-drops (khu-ba)? What lay...

A look at the ten destructive ways of behaving – actions that create our unhappiness – and how to avoid them.

Three Main Areas of Ethics: Refraining from Destructive Behavior, Discipline and Helping Others When we talk about ethics or ethical behavior in Buddhism, we speak about three different areas. First is refraining from destructive behavior, which means not to act under the...

Buddha Is Not an Omnipotent God The founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni, was a prince of the small city state of Kapilavastu on the border of present-day northern India and Nepal two and a half thousand years ago. After seeing the physical and mental sufferings of his subjects,...

Having sex with someone else’s partner inevitably brings problems and needs to be avoided.

The role of ethics on the path of social service is a very important topic if we wish to engage in various types of professions for helping others. Whether it is in actual social services or in education or in healthcare, ethics is a very important aspect of it. Obviously,...

This evening, we’re going to talk about Buddhist sexual ethics. As with any Buddhist teaching, we need to see how it fits into the basic structure of Buddhism, which is the four noble truths. Very briefly, Buddha spoke about true sufferings that we are all experiencing – this...

The main issue in Buddhist sexual ethics is to avoid being obsessive about and glorifying sex.