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[Alexandr Korol]

“Right Action

A Buddhist must refrain from killing, stealing, and wrongful behavior in general. Lay followers are expected to observe the Five Precepts: abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication. Observance of these precepts leads to harmony on multiple levels — social, psychological, karmic, and contemplative. Exercises in moral discipline form the foundation for the practices of the next stages: concentration and wisdom. As consciousness deepens, ethical prohibitions — which initially serve to restrain immoral actions — gradually transform into an inner need to consider the feelings of other living beings.

This step is associated with physical actions, but it is evaluated from a moral perspective. According to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, it includes three aspects: Abstaining from killing living beings,
• Abstaining from stealing,
• Abstaining from sexual misconduct.”

“Right Livelihood

This concept primarily involves refraining from professions that cause suffering to living beings. Since work occupies a large portion of one’s life, one should strive to earn a living in accordance with Buddhist values in order to attain inner peace. One must avoid occupations in the following fields:
• Those related to the trade of living beings, both human and animal: slave trade, prostitution;
• Those involved in the manufacturing and sale of weapons or instruments of killing. Buddhism does not prohibit laypeople from serving in the military, as the army is viewed as a means of protecting living beings in cases of aggression (but if the army itself is the aggressor, a Buddhist should not serve in it), whereas the trade of weapons provokes conflict and creates the conditions for it;
• Those related to the production of meat, as obtaining meat requires the killing of living beings;
• Those involving intoxicants: production and trade of alcohol and drugs;
• Any activity involving deceit, accumulation of wealth through unrighteous
or criminal means: fortune-telling, fraud.