ศีลที่อาราธนาแล้วใช้ได้ตลอดตราบใดที่ไม่ประพฤติผิด แต่จะอาราธนาซ้ำทุกวันเพื่อตอกย้ำก็ได้ ดวงศีลจะเหนี่ยวนำบุญเข้ามากลั่นจิตใจให้บริสุทธิ์อย่างต่อเนื่องทั้งวันทั้งคืนA precept, once undertaken, remains valid so long as we don't break it — but re-taking the vow daily can serve as a reaffirmation. The sphere of precepts continuously draws in merit that refines the mind toward purity, day and night.
Someone asked: on a retreat, the eight precepts are usually undertaken only once, on the first day. But with the five precepts, must we request them every day? This is compared to monks who recite the Pātimokkha to purify their precepts every fortnight.
Once precepts are undertaken, they remain valid continuously, so long as we don't break them. But once we do break a precept, we feel a certain unease, a discomfort — because taking the vow again is like becoming a new person once more. Whether the five precepts or the eight, you may request them every day if you wish — especially if you feel unsure. Requesting them daily reaffirms our intent to bring safety to ourselves and others, to make ourselves a keeper of pure precepts. Waking each morning, we can tell ourselves that we are a keeper of precepts, a pure person.
We can review the five precepts as: we will bring safety to the lives of people and creatures; safety to the property of people and creatures; safety to the families of everyone; safety in our speech, for ourselves and others; and safety to the that grounds , both our own and others'. Reviewing this way reaffirms the natural quality of wholesome precepts — the wholesome's normal state, which brings safety across at least five domains. The eight precepts bring safety from both and the neutral, while the five precepts bring safety from the unwholesome, preventing it from guiding us.
Once we've resolved to bring this safety, the sphere of precepts refines our mind toward cleanliness and , continuously drawing in merit day and night — whether asleep, awake, standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, it keeps drawing merit in, refining the mind toward purity and continuously freeing us from one dimension into a subtler one — whether or not we're even aware of it. The sphere of precepts keeps drawing in this pure energy — merit — to steadily correct and refine the elements within us toward purity.
So, if we feel unsure or uneasy, the sphere of precepts grows dim and clouded. Once we re-take , that sphere brightens again as merit flows back in, refining the mind toward purity, freeing it into a deeper dimension the unwholesome cannot reach — meaning there's no longer enough residual craving for wrongdoing left to act on, because once the sphere of precepts is in place, the unwholesome no longer has enough of a to guide us astray.