Thus, taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts has great benefits.  Let’s look at the multiple benefits of taking the 8 precepts:  

1. Accumulate great merit
   Imagine this: One person makes a grand offering of butter as vast as Mount Meru, but another person who follows just one precept makes a modest offering with a tiny wick and a drop of oil. Surprisingly, the person observing even a single precept gains far more merit! Now, picture committing to all eight precepts. You’re not just making a small gesture—you’re building an impressive reservoir of merit. As the King of Concentration Sutra reveals, the merit from keeping just one precept for a day is greater than making offerings to countless buddhas over eons. It’s a powerful way to enhance your spiritual journey! 
   

   
   

2. Your prayers will succeed
   Ever felt like your prayers weren’t quite hitting the mark? When you follow the 8 precepts, your prayers get a serious boost. Observing these vows with dedication makes your requests more likely to be answered. It’s like having a VIP pass for spiritual requests. The strength of pure morality makes your prayers more impactful and ensures you get results during your time of observance.
   
   

3. Attaining enlightenment your future lives
   By practicing the 8 precepts, you’re not just impacting your current life—you’re setting yourself up for a better rebirth. Just one day of observing these precepts ensures you’ll come back in a special form, whether as a human or a deva, ready to continue your journey toward enlightenment.
   
   Taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts also has the benefit of enabling you to meet Maitreya Buddha’s teachings. Maitreya Buddha said,
   
   

   During the time of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings, whoever listens to the teachings with devotion and protects the eight precepts will be born as a disciple in my retinue.

What are the 8 precepts and their individual benefits?

1. Not killing any other sentient beings
   Observing this precept has the advantage of extending our lifespan in future human lives. It leads to good health and a strong appearance. However, breaking this precept can result in a shorter life, potentially leading to issues such as dying in the womb or suffering from numerous ailments.
   
   

2. Not stealing
   Observing this precept offers the benefit of future enjoyment in subsequent lives and protection from disturbances caused by others taking our possessions. Conversely, breaking this precept can result in our belongings being stolen, even in this lifetime.
   
   

3. Not engaging in sexual activities
   The benefits of keeping it are that in many future lifetimes the shape of the person’s body will always be beautiful with fine complexion. The person reborn with good physical features has created the cause, the karma, in previous lives, through the practice of morality and patience.
   
   

4. Not telling lies
   Observing this precept ensures that in future human lifetimes, you will not be deceived by others' lies. People will respect and trust your words—just as some individuals are known for their credible and trustworthy speech. Conversely, lying and engaging in gossip with a negative mindset diminishes the purity and effectiveness of your speech. By maintaining honesty, your speech remains pure and straightforward, making your prayers more powerful and likely to bring success to both you and others. 
   
   

5. Not taking intoxicants
   We must keep this precept and refrain from consuming intoxicants (unless for a Dharmic reason), as the mind will become unconscious, not remembering things easily, and lose perfect wisdom. We will create the cause to easily forget things in future lifetimes.
   
   

6. Not sitting on high and rich thrones
   This precept includes not sitting on high and rich beds such as those made of jewels and so forth, or on a bed with animal skins such as tiger skin, because the skins have a bad vibration due to the animal’s mind being proud, angry, and so on. The result of keeping this precept is that it causes us to be admired in the next life and to have material comforts, but it is kept mainly for the purpose of enlightenment.
   
   

7. Fasting
   Food may be consumed before noon, but only once per day, with the purpose of sustaining oneself to practice Dharma. This precept is to prevent the rise of attachment and to avoid generating negative karma through such attachment. It also serves to purify negative karma and is highly beneficial for meditation.
   
   We should also not take any black foods (onion, garlic, eggs and meat) as they affect the pure power of the mind, making us sleepy and unconscious. White foods such as curd, fruit, vegetables, wheat, rice, milk, cheese, and butter are alright to be taken.
   
   

8. Not using perfumes and wearing jewels, and no singing and dancing
   The benefits of not using perfumes and wearing jewels is that the person may be born with a body of beautiful shape and have many good physical qualities. Lastly, the benefits of not singing and dancing are that in other lives the person’s mind and body will be very controlled and subdued. Also, the person can intuitively talk about Dharma. 

Conclusion

The benefits of taking the 8 precepts for a day are extremely vast and should be chanced upon as a rare opportunity to create great merit. Come join us for our 8 Precepts One-Day Practice on 28/9/2024 (Sat) led by Geshe Kangyur. Click here to sign up now!