Understanding the Four Basic Necessities and Precepts : หน้า 142/207

The senior monk : Now I want you to think about what we need to live. The children : Air, food, and water, sir, as well as medicine, clothing, and a house. We also need money to live. The senior monk You are right. Although all of you are in school, your parents have to provide you with The children The senior monk 1. Clothing. 2. Food. 3. Shelter. 4. Medicine. In Buddhist terminology, these are called the Four Basic Necessities, which every human being needs. On top of these, we have furniture, shoes and so on which we need to make life comfortable. If somebody takes these things away from us, can we survive? : No, we can't. That's correct. They don't have to kill us, but if they steal or take away these things from us, then we can't survive either. That is how the Second Precept came into existence; it is because we need these possessions to survive. How did the Third Precept, one shall not commit adultery, come into existence? If other people do not take our lives or our possessions, we should live a happy life. However, if they take what we love most, which are our husbands, our wives, and our sons and daughters, we will suffer great sadness. This is the idea behind the Third Precept, that no one should take away a loved one from somebody else, and therefore one shall not commit adultery. How did the Fourth Precept, one shall not lie, come into existence? Think of all the people you love, your parents, your friends, your brothers and sisters, and your teacher, and imagine if you find out that they are not honest with you. Your reaction would be that you will not love them any longer. The senior monk The children The senior monk: The children Do you have a brother? : Yes, I do. If you found out that he lied to you, would you be mad at him? : Yes, I would. The senior monk And if you lie to him, do you think he will be mad at you? The Warm Hearted Family 282 Maling the Five Precepts Easy for Children to Understand The Warm Hearted Family 283 Making the Five Precepts Easy for Children to Understand