What Does It Mean to Study the Precepts?

Just as a young child learning to walk remains in the learning stage until able to walk normally without hindrance. While learning, the child often stumbles, with hands grasping for support and body leaning on objects, inevitably falling at times and suffering minor injuries. Only when the legs and feet become adept, freely stepping in any direction, does the learning conclude, and the child is called a "Solo Walker." Yet even then, occasional stumbles occur, just as adults may trip unintentionally. Similarly, when an infant learns to speak, it begins with babbling, uttering single words, then phrases, until finally expressing thoughts freely and without obstruction, marking the end of speech learning.

So it is with a Bodhisattva learning the precepts. Afflictions and habitual tendencies cling to the mind, unnoticed. Newly receiving the precepts, one does not understand their meaning nor how to uphold them. Reciting the precepts monthly clarifies their principles, yet violations occur from time to time. Upon discovery, one repents; after repentance, one corrects the fault; yet after correction, one may transgress again—an arduous process where minor precepts prove difficult to uphold, and major precepts may also be broken. Only when afflictions are severed, upon reaching the Third or Fourth Fruit, does one become free and unconstrained, liberated according to conditions, with a mind unburdened yet never overstepping boundaries. Major precepts remain unbroken; minor precepts can be upheld, though occasional lapses may still occur—minor precepts may have flaws, but major precepts remain intact. This is called "upholding the precepts," corresponding to the First to Eighth Bhumis. Beyond the Eighth Bhumi, when habits are completely eradicated, everything occurs spontaneously and naturally; regarding all precepts, there is neither upholding nor violation.

If one violates the Ten Major Precepts for monastic Bodhisattvas or the Six Major Precepts for lay Bodhisattvas, this is not called "upholding the precepts" but only "learning the precepts." If minor precepts are difficult to uphold and frequently violated, this is not called "upholding the precepts" but only "learning the precepts." Learning the precepts is not easy, harder than an infant learning to speak or walk, yet this is an essential stage in a Bodhisattva's growth. Passing through this stage, one is called a "Bodhisattva Mahasattva," a Child of the Tathāgata, with a mind liberated, free and unobstructed, traversing the Three Realms, perfectly harmonizing principle and phenomena.