Smoking & The Fifth Precept

The Five Precepts consist of the bare minimum of Buddhist moral behaviour. Being a sincere Buddhist involves much more than just following the precepts, but anything less than that disqualifies one from honestly calling oneself a Buddhist. If you ask someone why they should keep the precepts or what are the benefits of doing so they will usually say: “To avoid making bad kamma.” Wanting to avoid “making bad kamma”, people sometimes ask if smoking violates the precepts, in particular the fifth precept. The two are probably associated with each other because of the popular perception that those who drink also smoke. When the issue is brought up the opinions tend to be either; “Smoking does not violate the fifth precept” or “Yes, it is against the fifth precept.”


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