The Five Precepts of Buddhism are as follows:

At first I thought that number one would be easy as I don't make a habit of killing animals but the other day I caught a mosquito on my arm and instinctively - whack!

Upon further examination of the Five Precepts I found that I wasn't in fact keeping to any of them as well as I could be (at least by my own interpretation) and so this caused me to rethink the entire thing.

So I just wondered what others (both Buddhist and non-Buddhist) found to be the hardest of the Precepts to maintain.

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If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to anything.
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few. - Suzuki-roshi

I would think that 1 and 4 would be the most difficult for me to follow. I don't like spiders in my house. And gossiping is a difficult thing to avoid. So it's let the spiders out and keep the gossip in by thinking good thoughts about others.

I was kayaking the other day and killed probably about 3 dozen horse-flies, so I would have to say the first

Avoiding the taking of life is very difficult. Even if one changes to a vegan diet, plants die.

Refraining from falsehood may be even harder, however. It can take many forms, including omitting a pertinent detail when giving information; or ignoring an unpleasant situation while hoping it will just go away.

To follow the spirit of any of the precepts, do what you're able to do and keep trying to minimize the harm whenever possible.

Hands down - it is not lying. Keeping the ever jabbering tounge in the right place is by far the most difficult, and is why, for example, a vipassana retreat will allow one to shut it right up for days.
Good question.

All of these precepts are common to all Faith traditions to my knowledge, and all are very difficult to maintain (as already posted). As for importance, IMHO, I think the most important (if it is indeed possible to rank such important universal principals) is #4. In my Faith tradition it is said:



--Steve--

Hi Y'all,

This are very good precepts, however, there are several hundred sects of Buddhism. I practiced a Japanese Buddhism called Nichiren Shoshu.

I belonged to Nichiren Shoshu for 30 years and our most important precepts were to chant "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" to the Gohonzon (scroll of life conditions),make offerings to the Gohonzon, to protect the Gohonzon, , members of NS, and to recite the Lotus Sutra morning and evening, abide by the laws of the land, practice shakabuku (tell others about "Nam Myho Renge Kyo"), do not gossip about (slander) other members true or not, do not slander oneself, the practice or the True Buddha (Nichiren Daishonin), and to create value in society (practice for oneself and others).

Many, in fact most, of the members are not vegetarians.

This is all I recall at the moment, hope I did not leave anything out.

Thanks for the question. Fortuna

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The opinions expressed in my post are only my humble opinions. I expressly request that none of my opinions be taken personally or taken offense to as it is not in my nature to intentionally cause hurt. I am only human and I make mistakes, so please remember this when reading some of my more passionate or lengthy posts. --Fortuna