Orthodox Chinese Buddhism
What Are the Basic Dogmas of Buddhism?
What Are the Basic Dogmas of Buddhism? In principle, Buddhism has no dogmas. What are closest to being dogmatic are the precepts. But precepts for Buddhists are not a covenant with God, so they are not mysterious as in some religions. Precepts in Buddhism come from principles of ethics and are hence purely rational.

The five precepts are abstention from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct (unchastity), verbal misconduct, and drinking alcohol. The ten good deeds are extensions and expansions of the five precepts, and require one to perform good deeds as well as abstain from misdeeds, as shown in figure.
In summary, the Buddhist precepts are to commit no evil and to perform all good. Any act harmful to one's physical or mental health, family, society, country, to humanity, or to any sentient being falls under the scope of five precepts, and therefore should not be committed.
Anything truly beneficial to one's own or to another's welfare should be carried out with all effort. To commit evil violates the precepts, and not to perform good deeds violates the precepts, too.

However, Buddhism is broad-minded. If someone is unaware that certain behavior violates the precepts, such behavior does not count as an infraction. Also, if someone has no intention to violate the precepts, even if she breaks them she is not guilty [that is, does not generate the negative karma] of the transgression. On the other hand, if someone harbors the intention to break the precepts, even if she ends up not breaking them, she bears some guilt [produces negative karmic energy. One is guilty of fully transgressing the precepts only when one actually, intentionally, and successfully carries out the violation.
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