Five Precepts

The Five Precepts

These are the five vows that Buddhists undertake as a code of honor to live by, translated and explained by Pema Khandro.

Respecting Life:

སྲོག་གཅོད་པ་སོང་བ srog gcod pa song ba – do not cut the life force

Precept: Avoid harming other beings whenever possible and respect the lives of others through cultivating compassion.
Meaning: Establish compassionate connections with everyone and everything everywhere.
Vajrayana View: Refrain from killing the luminosity of awareness as it sparkles through the fabric of duality.

Respecting Resources:

མ་བྱིན་པར་ལེན་སྤོང་བ – ma byin par len spong ba – do not take what has not been given

Precept: Avoid Stealing. Be a giver more than a taker.
Meaning: Deprive others as little as possible through your presence in the world, do not take what is not given and avoid squandering your resources. Cultivate great acts of generosity.
Vajrayana View: Refrain from stealing opportunities for realization and squandering the proceeds on the creation of less obvious dualities.

Respecting Relationships:

འདོད་པས་ལོག་པར་གཡེམ་པ་སྤོང་བ- ‘dod pas log par g.yem pa spong ba– do not be sexually impure

Precept: To Avoid Sexual Misconduct. To Devote the Body to Liberation.
Meaning: Celibacy & Non-Celibacy have the same principle: to devote the body to liberation. Often translated as avoiding sexual misconduct, this precept refers to respecting all relationships, our own and others.
Vajrayana View: To Remain in the Embrace of the Khandro & Pawo

Respecting the Power of Speech:

བརྫུན་དུ་སྨྲ་སྤོང་བ- brdzun du smra spong ba– Abandon false speech

Precept: To avoid lying and cultivate vigorous honesty.
Meaning: To use speech in a way that relieves and prevents suffering.
Vajrayana View: Avoid taking refuge in the lie of the dualistic rationale and expressing the lie of dualism

Cultivating the Unaltered State:

མྱོས་པར་འགྱུར་བའི་བདུང་བ་སྤོང་བ – myos par ‘gyur ba’i bdung ba spong ba – Abandon the demented state

Precept: Refrain from deliberate loss of awareness and cultivate presence of awareness.
Meaning: To cultivate the unaltered states
Vajrayana View: To cultivate be cultivate intoxicated appreciation of reality as it is

Upcoming Events

Bardo Teachings – Self Paced Course

With Pema Khandro, Father Francis Tiso, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Chagdud Khadro, Shugen Roshi, Julie Rogers, Jim Tucker, M.D., Koshin Paley Ellison and Dr. William McGrath

Open Dates

Teachings on Death and Dying Facing realities of dying, death, and grief are central to our human experience. This program offers practical instructions for helping others in the process of dying and an overview of essential knowledge on death, bardo, and rebirth. This includes self-paced lectures on dying, loss, grief, and illness from Lamas and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!

Buddhism & Sexuality – Self Paced Course

With Dr. Nicole Willock, Julie Regan, Ph.D., Pema Khandro, Lama Willa Miller, Amy Langenberg , Dr. Ann Gleig, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Jim Hopper, Dr. Elizabeth Call and Damchö Diana Finnegan

Open Dates

Join Pema Khandro and a group of esteemed Buddhist Studies scholars for an exploration of the history of Buddhist Sexualities from celibacy, to sacred sexuality in Buddhist Tantra and a simple approach to embodied integration with nature in Dzogchen. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!

Buddhist Ethics – Self Paced Course

With Pema Khandro

Open Dates

This course on Buddhist Ethics goes through the Five Buddhist Precepts. The five precepts form the basis of a Buddhist way of life and the vows that Buddhists Seek to follow. The Five Precepts are a discipline of freedom, honor, and precision that cover the potent themes of life from the extraordinary perspective of non-duality. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for these precious teachings. Your contribution, big and small, helps makes in-depth Buddhist training and education more accessible for all. May the teachings spread and flourish!

Women in Tantric Buddhism – Self Paced Course

With Holly Gayley, Judith Simmer-Brown, Sarah Jacoby, Amy Langenberg , Damchö Diana Finnegan, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Pema Khandro

Open Dates

This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…

Chakrasamvara Empowerment and Teachings

With Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and Pema Khandro

May 2 - 4, 2025

RESCHEDULED to May 2-4 The Chakramsamvara meditation focuses on the non-dual union of the great hero and heroine, Chakrasamvara and Vajrayogini (as Vajravarahi). They are the two key deities of esoteric Buddhist meditation. This is the practice that raises the innate wisdom to persevere, even in the face of tremendous difficulties. As the great hero, Chakrasamvara calls forward innate stability and skill. As the wheel of great bliss, Chakrasamvara calls forward the joy of non-dual union of male and female energies within being.

Cutting Through Fear: Dzogchen Chod Retreat

With Pema Khandro

May 28 - June 1, 2025

May 28 - June 1 San Diego and Online In a world beset with fear, profound methods are needed to reclaim intrinsic wisdom and awaken innate courage. Join Pema Khandro and the Buddhist Studies institute for a contemplation of fierce compassion through the annual Chod retreat, Troma Nagmo teachings, and an optional five month Comprehensive Chod intensive training to follow. Chod is the profound method of psychological transformation in esoteric Buddhism. Chod means cutting, referring to cutting through the fictions that cause fear, anxiety, and hesitations in one’s life.

Fierce Compassion: Comprehensive Chod Training

With Pema Khandro

June 9 - October 13, 2025

Embark on a transformative five-month journey into the heart of Dzogchen Chod with Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D. and the Buddhist Studies Institute. This comprehensive Chod training offers a rare opportunity for an in-depth immersion in the Dzogchen Chod system, Healing Chod, and the Secret Black Dakini Teachings. Take your Chod practice to the next level and cultivate fierce compassion and psychological transformation while studying the Tibetan tradition.