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Ethics and Safeguarding at the Croydon Buddhist Centre

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The Five Precepts

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The basis of all our ethical conduct is the Five Ethical Precepts, taken every day by Buddhists all over the world. 

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The negative precepts:

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I undertake to abstain from taking life.

I undertake to abstain from taking the not-given.

I undertake to abstain from sexual misconduct.

I undertake to abstain from false speech.

I undertake to abstain from taking intoxicants.

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The positive precepts: 

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With deeds of loving kindness, I purify my body.

With open-handed generosity, I purify my body.

With stillness, simplicity, and contentment, I purify my body.

With truthful communication, I purify my speech.

With mindfulness clear and radiant, I purify my mind.

Our Ethical Code

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As practising Buddhists we aim to behave ethically in all our dealings, both with each other and with the wider community. While we will inevitably sometimes fall short of our ideals, both the ethical precepts (training principles) familiar to all Buddhists and our own code of conduct give a framework for what we expect of those who help out at the Centre.

 

The precepts can be applied to all areas of human behaviour. This code is mainly intended to offer principles (and a few specific applications) in one key area: where Order members or other, more experienced members of the Triratna community are presenting and communicating Buddhist values to those who have less experience of Buddhist practice within the context of Triratna. It is to be applied especially in public situations, where a particular duty of care is owed.

 

In brief, the underlying values we wish to promote and exemplify can be summed up as kindness and non-violence, generosity and non-appropriation, contentment, respect and non-coercion, truthfulness, transparency and mindfulness or clarity. Click here to read the our full ethical code.

Protecting Vulnerable Children and Adults

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Those of us who work or support activities at the Buddhist Centre aim to behave ethically in all areas of our lives. The code of conduct (see link) sets out the principles involved, along with examples of specific areas of behaviour.

 

In particular,  we are committed to ensuring the sexual, physical and psychological safety of young people and vulnerable adults involved in the activities of the Croydon Buddhist Centre, as an expression of the First Precept: the principle of non-harming, or love.

 

We take our responsibilities very seriously in this regard. Our protection policies are based on the wider Triratna policies and are available on request from our Safeguarding Officer at croydonsafeguarding@gmail.com or on this page. 

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