He repeats after the officiating monk the Ten Precepts and vows to observe them.
The more pious laymen may vow to observe the eight precepts for the duration of the uposatha.
The Buddhist layperson may observe, in addition, any combination of the five precepts (not to kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or take intoxicants) and to support the monastic community by giving alms.
Teachers had to teach the Five Precepts of Uncle Ho, and they had to inculcate the North Vietnamese agenda, to make sure the children understood that it was because of the American enemy that their country was divided into two, that their families were broken and that their homeland was being destroyed.
These include the five precepts normally observed by all Buddhists not to kill, steal, lie, take intoxicants, or commit sexual offenses, which came to entail complete sexual continence as well as injunctions against eating food after noon, attending entertainments or wearing bodily adornments, and sleeping on a luxurious bed.
Later Daoist sources refer to the "nine precepts" of the Xiang'er.
There is also a longer set known as the "twenty-seven precepts" of the Xiang'er.
Note that the behaviors forbidden by four of the five precepts are included in this list, with the exception of drunkenness.
Following the Five Precepts is said to lead to rebirth as a human and prevent rebirth in one of the lower realms of suffering.
The two most important systems of moral discipline in Buddhism are the Five Precepts, which apply to lay people, and the Vows of Individual Liberation (Skt. prātimokṣa) which apply to monks and nuns.
The Five Precepts are quite similar to basic lists of prohibitions in other great world religions: those who take them make a commitment to refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drunkenness.
