Singalovada Sutta

The Buddha preached many other teachings for lay life apart from five precepts. Singalovada Sutta is one good guideline for the betterment of the family, society, community and the whole world.

The Buddha preached this sermon to a householder named Singalaka, who had been worshiping six quarters blindly on an advice by his father. In Singalovada Sutta, the Buddha enriched these six quarters for a meaningful worship.

Singalovada Sutta contains six perils: addiction to intoxicants, frequenting streets at unseemly hours, haunting the fairs, getting involved with gambling, associating evil companions and the habit of idleness.

The Sutta further explains five types of bad friends and five types of good friends found in daily life. Most importantly it gives a detailed explanation on duties towards various human relationships in the society: briefly, children and parents as eastern quarter, pupils and teachers as southern quarter, wife and husband as western quarter, clansman and friends as northern quarter, master and servant (employees) as nadir quarter, and finally clansman and monk or clergy as zenith quarter.

Singalovada Sutta's duties are very simple and practicable even in today's context. It contains best of the advice on leading a simple and successful lay life with all the happiness.

Similarly, there is a sufficient amount of teachings in Buddhism, which makes your life happy and successful. It's a matter of following them.

When you know how to lead a successful lay life, you would be qualified to select the other alternative path towards Nibbana at any stage of life. A lay person, who lives according to the way Buddha has preached, will never find it difficult to understand the so called intricacy of doctrine.