ey have misbehaved. This reminds us of the
criticisms of laymen reported in the Vinaya and the deference which the
Buddha paid to them.

The ethical character of Buddhism and its superiority to other Indian
systems are shown in the precepts which it lays down for laymen.
Ceremony and doctrine have hardly any place in this code, but it enjoins
good conduct and morality: moderation in pleasures and consideration for
others. Only five commandments are essential for a good life but they
are perhaps more comprehensive and harder to keep than the Decalogue,
for they prescribe abstinence from the five sins of taking life,
drinking intoxicants, lying, stealing and unchastity. It is meritorious
to observe in addition three other precepts, namely, to use no garlands
or perfumes: to sleep on a mat spread on the ground and not to eat after
midday. Pious laymen keep all these eight precepts, at least on Uposatha
days, and often make a vow to observe them for some special period. The
nearer a layman can approximate to the life of a monk the better for his
spiritual health, but still the aims and ideals, and consequently the
methods, of the lay and religious life are different. The Bhikkhu is not
of this world, he has cut himself loose from its ties, pleasures and
passions; he strives not for heaven but for arhatship. But the layman,
though he may profitably think of nirvana and final happiness, may also
rightly aspire to be born in some temporary heaven. The law merely bids
him be a kind, temperate, prudent man of the world. It is only when he
speaks to the monks that the Buddha really speaks to his own and gives
his own thoughts: only for them are the high selfless aspirations, the
austere counsels of perfection and the promises of bliss and something
beyond bliss. But the lay morality is excellent in its own sphere--the
good respectable life--and its teaching is most earnest and natural in
those departments where the hard unsentimental precepts of the higher
code jar on western minds. Whereas the monk severs all family ties and
is fettered by no domestic affection, this is the field which the layman
can cultivate with most profit. It was against his judgment that the
Buddha admitted women to his order and in bidding his monks beware of
them he said many hard things. But for women in the household life the
Pitakas show an appreciation and respect which is illustrated by the
position held by women in Buddhist countries from the devout