The ethical foundation for lay practice, the Pañcasīla: five trainings undertaken voluntarily, not commandments handed down from above.
- Not killing.
- Not stealing.
- Not misusing the senses.
- Not speaking falsely.
- Not clouding the mind with intoxicants.
They are less rules than conditions for a quiet mind. Each one removes a common source of the agitation and remorse that make stillness impossible: act in these five ways and there is simply less wreckage to sit with. The five echo the Yamas, yoga's own first restraints, almost one for one.