💚 1. Taking life
To abstain from harming or killing living beings. This is the first precept, and the one most linked to the value of life.
Buddhist Beliefs about Life and Death » The Five Precepts, the Value of Life and Abortion in Buddhism
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 2.3 (Buddhism)
- The Five Precepts and how they oppose taking life and causing suffering
- Why Buddhists, who believe in no creator, still see life as precious
- Buddhist attitudes to abortion, and why they differ
- How to answer Paper 1 questions on this topic
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Unlock This CourseThe Five Precepts
In The Sanctity of Life and Abortion you met the idea that life is sacred and that people disagree about when it begins. This lesson looks at the Buddhist view. Many religions say life is sacred because God gave it. Buddhists do not believe in a creator God, so their teaching on the value of life comes from somewhere else: from compassion, from kamma and from the chance of enlightenment.
The starting point is the Five Precepts. A precept is a rule of training. Buddhists do not see them as commandments from a God. They are promises a person makes to themselves, to train the mind and live without harming others. Lay Buddhists often repeat them at the vihara and at festivals. Each begins with the words "I undertake the training rule to abstain from..."
Key terms:
- Five Precepts: five training rules that Buddhists try to keep so that they live without harming themselves or others.
- Precious human rebirth: the Buddhist teaching that being born as a human is rare and gives a chance to follow the path to enlightenment.
👍 2. Taking what is not given
To abstain from stealing, which causes loss and upset to others.
💖 3. Sexual misconduct
To abstain from sexual behaviour that harms others. You will study this in Buddhist Teaching on Relationships and Sexuality.
💬 4. False speech
To abstain from lying and from speech that hurts, such as gossip or insults.
🍷 5. Intoxicants
To abstain from drink and drugs that cloud the mind. A clouded mind finds it easier to break the other four precepts.
🌱 The aim
All five reduce suffering for others and for yourself, and help keep the mind clear for mindfulness.
Notice the wording: "abstain from". The precepts say what to avoid. Buddhists also try to do the matching good thing, so the first precept is balanced by metta, loving-kindness to all beings.
The first precept and the value of life
The first precept, to abstain from taking life, shows why Buddhists value life. Living beings feel pain and fear and want to live, so harming them causes suffering. Buddhists believe this applies to all beings who can suffer, not just humans. The Metta Sutta, a short early text on loving-kindness, says a person should have a boundless heart towards all beings, as a mother would protect her only child.
Kamma also matters. Deliberately ending a life is an unskilful action, driven by hatred, fear or greed. Buddhists believe it plants the seeds of future suffering for the person who does it. So the first precept protects other beings, and it protects the person who keeps it.
Why human life is precious
Buddhists believe in rebirth, so a human life is not the only one. Even so, they say it is rare and precious. A famous teaching compares it to a blind turtle that rises to the surface of a huge ocean once every hundred years. On the ocean floats a single wooden yoke with one hole in it. The chance of the turtle's head going through the hole is about the chance of being born as a human.
The reason a human life is so valuable is that humans can understand the Four Noble Truths and follow the Noble Eightfold Path. Beings in some other realms of rebirth suffer too much, or are too caught up in pleasure, to do this. A human life is a chance to reach nibbana. Wasting it, or ending it, is seen as a great loss.
Sanctity of life in Buddhism
Buddhists do not say life is sacred because God made it. They say life is precious because beings can suffer, because human life gives a rare chance to become enlightened, and because compassion asks us to protect it. Many Buddhists talk about the "value of life" rather than the "sanctity of life".
Buddhist attitudes to abortion
Abortion is when a pregnancy is ended on purpose. The Buddha lived long before modern medicine, so the early teachings do not discuss it as we know it today. The Vinaya, the rule book for monks and nuns, treats helping to end a pregnancy as taking life. Buddhists work out their views from the precepts and from teachings on kamma and intention. There are two main attitudes.
❌ Abortion is wrong
Most Buddhist teachers hold that life begins at conception, when a being is reborn into the womb. So an abortion ends a life and breaks the first precept. It is an unskilful act that causes harm and brings bad kamma.
🤝 Sometimes accepted
Some Buddhists say that intention and compassion matter most. In hard cases, such as a danger to the mother's life, they may accept abortion as the lesser harm. It is still serious, but it may come from compassion and not from hatred or greed.
Why Buddhists disagree
Buddhism has no single leader, whose ruling all must follow. Teachers in different traditions and countries give different guidance, and each Buddhist is encouraged to think for themselves, as in the Kalamas teaching in Why People Follow the Buddha's Path, or Do Not. In Japan, for example, some Buddhists hold a ceremony called mizuko kuyo to remember a child lost through abortion or miscarriage. It shows care and regret, and the view that the life mattered even where the choice was made.
Common mistakes
- Calling the precepts "commandments". They are training rules that Buddhists choose to take on, not orders from a God.
- Saying Buddhists believe life is sacred because God made it. Buddhists have no creator God. Use compassion, kamma and the chance of enlightenment.
- Saying all Buddhists think abortion is always wrong, or always acceptable. Most teachers see it as breaking the first precept, but views differ.
- Saying the first precept is only about humans. It covers all beings that can suffer.
Recap
- The Five Precepts are training rules: no taking life, no taking what is not given, no sexual misconduct, no false speech, no intoxicants.
- The first precept opposes taking life and causing suffering, and so links to the value of life.
- A human rebirth is rare and gives the chance to reach nibbana, so it is precious.
- Most teachers say abortion breaks the first precept; others stress intention and compassion in hard cases.
- There is no single authority, so views differ by tradition and country.
Exam-style question
Paper 1 style. Parts (a) and (b) test AO1. Parts (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three of the Five Precepts. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two reasons why this religion teaches that human life is precious. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why there are different attitudes to abortion in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) 'Abortion is always wrong.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. Not taking life (1). 2. Not taking what is not given (1). 3. Not telling lies, or false speech (1).
(b) Buddhists believe a human rebirth is rare, like a turtle surfacing through a floating yoke (1), so being born human is a precious chance (1). They also believe humans can follow the Noble Eightfold Path (1), which makes it possible to reach nibbana and end suffering (1).
(c) Many Buddhists think abortion is wrong because most teachers say life begins at conception. This means abortion ends a life and breaks the first precept, the training rule to abstain from taking life.
Other Buddhists stress intention and compassion. Because kamma depends on intention, they say that in a hard case, such as a danger to the mother's life, the choice may come from compassion, not hatred or greed, and may be the lesser harm.
A further reason is that Buddhism has no single authority. Teachers in different traditions and countries give different guidance, so there is no one ruling, and each Buddhist is encouraged to weigh the question for themselves.
(d) Plan. For: Buddhist teachers say life begins at conception, so abortion breaks the first precept and causes harm; the precious human rebirth should not be ended; many religious people and some non-religious people say the unborn child has a right to life.
Against: some Buddhists say compassion for the mother, such as when her life is in danger, may justify abortion as the lesser harm; humanists stress the woman's choice and quality of life; the word 'always' ignores hard cases.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I partly disagree. Most Buddhist teachers see abortion as breaking the first precept, but 'always' is too strong, since some Buddhists accept it in hard cases where compassion for the mother is the motive.
Exam tip
In part (c), the word 'different' means you need at least two contrasting views. Name the first precept for one view and intention and compassion for the other, then explain why Buddhists can differ.