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The Bodhisattva Precepts (Skt. bodhisattva-śīla or bodhisattva-saṃvāra, traditional Chinese: 菩薩戒; ; pinyin: Púsà Jiè, Japanese: bosatsukai; Tibetan: byang chub sems dpa’i sdom pa) are a set of ethical trainings (śīla) used in Mahāyāna Buddhism to advance a practitioner along the path to becoming a bodhisattva.[1] These sets of "restrains" (saṃvāra) are the main ethical code in Mahāyāna Buddhism and as thus also sometimes called "Mahāyāna precepts" (Ch: 大乘戒).[1][2]
Traditionally, monastics observed the basic moral code in Buddhism, the monastic prātimokṣa or five precepts for laypersons, but in the Mahāyāna tradition, Buddhist monastics and laypersons commonly observe the Bodhisattva Precepts as well. The Bodhisattva Precepts are associated with the bodhisattva vow to save all beings and with bodhicitta.[1]