Toh 4148Ritual of the Ten Trainings

Explication of the Daśaśikṣāvidhi Scripture (Ritual of the Ten Trainings)

Background

The Daśaśikṣāvidhi—the Ritual of the Ten Trainings—is a treatise belonging to the Tengyur (the Tibetan Treatise Canon) and the Mahayana tradition. This scriptural text belongs to the system of practice of the Mind-Only and Perfect Teaching schools, in which rituals (vidhi) are not merely formal religious practices, but a basis for training the mind, purifying karma, and developing the bodhisattva path.

In the context of Tibetan Buddhism, Daśaśikṣā (the Ten Trainings) generally comprises rules of training—ethical and psychological standards—that help students cultivate their conduct, speech, and mind, gradually advancing toward awakening. These rules are not imposed from without, but constitute “self-training” (śikṣa) in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings, establishing a firm ethical foundation.

Main Content

The Ritual of the Ten Trainings focuses on systematically establishing and maintaining wholesome conduct. These ten trainings generally include refraining from killing, refraining from taking what has not been given, refraining from sexual misconduct, refraining from false speech, and refraining from intoxicating drink, together with five further trainings concerning the regulation of one’s way of life, such as avoiding extravagance, avoiding excess, avoiding self-denial, and trainings related to mindfulness.

However, the specific content of this scripture has not been fully translated in the materials currently available. According to the general context of the Northern Tibetan tradition, this ritual explains how to undertake each training: how to firmly maintain the intention to renounce killing, how to generate compassion while acting, and how to clearly recognize the consequences of actions so as to prevent error.

In particular, within the Tibetan tradition, these rituals focus not only on avoiding evil but also on turning toward the good. Each training is not merely a prohibition, but a path directing the mind toward what is wholesome. Practice of the Ten Trainings is regarded as the foundation of all higher codes of training, from the five precepts of lay practitioners to the 250 trainings of a bhikṣu.