Question: If you have committed to observing the Eight Precepts (八戒) on a Purification Day (斋日), but have to forgo one precept during the day, should you forgo all the other precepts too? Answer: There should be informing of another Buddhist who understands the Eight Precepts of your intention to forgo that one precept, to bear witness to this, while still upholding the other seven precepts. This practice ensures there is accountability and lessens the possibility of ‘easily’ forgoing precepts.
From the 37th Parable Of Killing A Herd Of Cows (杀群牛喻) in the Sūtra Of A Hundred Parables《百喻经》, about a cowherd who killed all his other cows just because he lost one, the Buddha commented, ‘Ordinary foolish persons are likewise thus, having received to uphold the Thus Come One’s Complete Precepts, if having violated one precept, not giving rise to shame for pure repentance, then have this thought and say, “As I have already broken one precept, since they are not complete now, for what should I uphold the others for?”’ (凡夫愚人亦复如是，受持如来具足之戒，若犯一戒，不生惭愧清净忏悔，便作念言：「我已破一戒，既不具足，何用持为？)
When there is a precept broken, there should immediately be the 3R‘s – sincere Repentance (忏悔) for the precept broken, Resolution to not break it again, and ‘Revival’ of the precept, by not letting it remain ‘dead’, and by not ‘killing’ the other precepts. Instead, there should be better observation of all precepts after. (True Repentance should already include Resolution and Revival as above, but they are at times forgotten.)
As an example, if one has committed to observing the Eight Precepts for one day, just because there is breaking of one precept, or difficulty to observe one precept, such as being too hungry, thus ‘needing’ to take an extra meal, there should not be thinking that since this is so, all other seven precepts should immediately be renounced for the day too.
After renouncing only that one precept, there should still be observing of the other precepts best one can, not thinking that, ‘Since I am not “pure” enough already, I will give up further purification practice today.’ If giving up all Eight Precepts due to such misguided ‘perfectionism’, this would be a case of ‘self-wrecking and self-abandoning’ (自暴自弃), not doing what is right. It is exactly through practice best we can each time, that perfection is eventually attained. Perfection is not attained by giving up easily each time.
Question: If you have committed to observing the Eight Precepts on a Purification Day, but have to forgo one precept during the day, should you dedicate another full day to full observation of all the precepts? Answer: It is best to do so. This is so as we should practise towards full observation of the precepts, and not be contented with partial observation only.
Even if one happens to have to omit one precept occasionally, there should not be thinking that it is one precept ‘only’, and that it is occasionally ‘only’. This attitude is important for training towards moral perfection, which when reached, is with morality always perfect, without any slight or occasional omissions. After all, the path to perfection begins with walking the path as ‘perfectly’ as we can now.
