Day Two: Basic Buddhism

My next step on this religious adventure is Buddhism. Buddhism appeals to me because it's not centered around building a relationship with God. Unfortunately, that and meditation are about the extent of my knowledge. So I made a little trip to the bookstore today and picked up a few books on Buddhism. I'm starting off basic: Teach Yourself: Buddhism by Clive Erricker.

According to the book, to become a Buddhist all I have to do is recite

"I go for refuge to the Buddha
I go for refuge to the Dhamma
I go for refuge to the Sangha."

three times and I'm set. Sounds simple enough, right? Here it goes..... done! I'm now a Buddhist! I guess technically my mission has been accomplished for today, but I'm not satisfied with just that. I want to become a practicing Buddhist, but first I need to learn what exactly that entails.

I'm going to start off by trying to follow the Five Precepts, which are the basic "rules" of Buddhist living. They are:

1. I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from harming living beings.
2. I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from taking things not freely given.
3. I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from sexual misconduct.
4. I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from false speech.
5. I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from intoxicating drinks and drugs causing heedlessness.

At first glance they seem simple enough, but upon further investigation, each precept is fairly vague. Take the first one as an example. What constitutes harming a living being? Does it refer to just humans, or does it include animals? Bugs? Plants? Does one have to be a vegetarian to be Buddhist? Is swatting a mosquito a violation of the first precept? I have so many questions! Clearly I need to do some more reading and research, and perhaps talk to a few Buddhists that could help me understand what I'm getting myself into.