The Merit of Receiving and Upholding the Eight Precepts (aṣṭāṅga-upavāsa-śīla)

Original text of the Ekottara Āgama, Volume 16, Gaochuang Chapter (High Banner Chapter):比丘当知。若有优婆塞．优婆夷。持此八关斋法。彼善男子善女人。当趣三道。或生人中。或生天上。或般涅盘。是故诸比丘。若有善男子善女人。欲持八关斋。离诸苦者。得善处者。欲得尽诸漏入涅盘城者。当求方便。成此八关斋法。

Explanation: Bhikṣus should know that if there are upāsakas and upāsikās who uphold this Eight Precepts fasting dharma, those good men and good women will proceed toward three destinies: either reborn among humans, or reborn in the heavens, or attaining parinirvāṇa. Therefore, bhikṣus, if there are good men and good women who wish to uphold the Eight Precepts fasting, who wish to depart from all suffering, to be reborn in good destinations, and to exhaust all defilements and enter the city of nirvāṇa, they should seek skillful means to accomplish this Eight Precepts fasting dharma.

This passage describes the meritorious fruits and retributions of upholding the Eight Precepts fasting. Why can upholding the Eight Precepts fasting enable one to leave suffering and attain liberation, to exhaust all defilements and enter nirvāṇa? These eight precepts can gather in body and mind, so that the mind does not turn outward and the body does not move recklessly. In this way, one can both subdue afflictions and eliminate karmic obstructions, and also give rise to meditative concentration and merit. Not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, and not drinking alcohol can subdue the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, avoid the karma of the three evil destinies, prevent falling into the three evil destinies to receive retribution, and prevent being bound by unwholesome karma, so that life after life one studies the Buddha's dharma in the three wholesome destinies, and in this way one swiftly attains the Way.

Upholding the precept of abstaining from food after midday (vikālabhojanā veramaṇī) means the stomach has less food and is spared excessive work, which allows the mind to be pure and to concentrate on contemplating the Buddha's dharma; meditative concentration and wisdom then arise easily. Not sitting on high, broad, and grand beds prevents arrogance from arising and prevents the depletion of merit, so merit accumulates quickly; with merit, cultivation is easily accomplished. Not applying fragrant flowers, oils, and powders makes it easy to subdue and eliminate the view of body and self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), thereby attaining liberation. In this way, these eight precepts can extinguish the defiled afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; when afflictions are exhausted, one can attain liberation and enter nirvāṇa.

Judging from the meaning, function, and role of the precepts, without receiving the precepts and without upholding the precepts, it is fundamentally impossible to attain realization and eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi); even the stage of one entering the stream-enterer's path could not appear. Nowadays, many Buddhist practitioners do not care about the matter of receiving and upholding precepts; they never take the initiative to receive precepts, nor do they pay attention to meditative concentration, but only like to absorb theoretical knowledge. They have no intention of being down-to-earth and cultivating genuinely and practically; their goals of cultivation are not clear, and their diligence is never sufficient. People in such a state are beginners in Buddhism, and the vast majority in Buddhism are such people. With these people, one cannot discuss matters of attaining realization or awakening to the true mind and seeing one's nature. Yet in reality, it is precisely such people who lightly claim—or are certified by others as having—attained realization and awakened to the true mind and seen their nature. This is an extremely abnormal phenomenon in Buddhism. Where does the problem lie? One should think actively about it, to avoid falling into the same pit in the future.