Giving the precepts

[adeh]

Just a quick question....can a layperson give the precepts to another layperson, or can they only be given to a layperson by a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni?

[Fede]

You can TAKE the Precepts yourself, unless of course you are ordaining....

At the risk of sounding ignorant, could you clarify in which context you mean?

And are you also perhaps thinking of Taking Refuge?

[andre9999]

You can TAKE the Precepts yourself, unless of course you are ordaining....

At the risk of sounding ignorant, could you clarify in which context you mean?

And are you also perhaps thinking of Taking Refuge?

As in, "I don't feel like taking the precepts myself because they're a pain in the butt. I'm going to give them to Fede instead."

[adeh]

I'm asking about the 5 precepts....I don't know if they do this in other lineages, but there is a whole formula in Pali for taking the precepts that we use (our teacher is a bhikkhu in a Burmese lineage) and it involves asking the bhikkhu three times to be given the 5 precepts and then being given the precepts...

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Just a thought, is it OK to take the precepts if they're not given?

Lay meditation teachers can give the precepts. After all, you're not "taking" them from anyone, you're "undertaking" to observe them, with others as your witness — that's all.

[adeh]

Thank you Bhante...I've often taken the precepts myself at home, just to reaffirm them to myself...