<p>I don't think it's thoroughly explained in suttas.</p>

<p>I know you tagged this topic <a href="/questions/tagged/lay-buddhism" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;lay-buddhism&#39;" rel="tag">lay-buddhism</a>, but it might be relevant to mention that the topic is extensively discussed in the Vinaya (the "discipline", the rules for monks).</p>

<p>Pages of 74 through 86 of <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/bmc1.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Buddhist Monastic Code</a> says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>This rule against intentionally causing the death of a human being is best
  understood in terms of five factors, all of which must be present for there to be
  the full offense.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><strong>Object</strong>: a human being, which according to the Vibhaṅga includes human
  fetuses as well, counting from the time consciousness first arises in the
  womb immediately after conception up to the time of death.</li>
  <li><strong>Intention</strong>: knowingly, consciously, deliberately, and purposefully wanting
  to cause that person’s death. “Knowingly” also includes the factor of—</li>
  <li><strong>Perception</strong>: perceiving the person as a living being.</li>
  <li><strong>Effort</strong>: whatever one does with the purpose of causing that person to die.</li>
  <li><strong>Result</strong>: The life-faculty of the person is cut as the result of one’s act.</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>It details a number of exceptions: if you kill a person by accident; if you thought they were already dead; or etc.</p>

<p>It also details some non-exceptions, e.g. telling someone else to kill <em>does</em> count as "effort".</p>

<p>Perhaps I could mention that <em>attempted</em> murder (where the victim doesn't die as a "result") is considered still an offence, and punished ... but with "lesser penalties".</p>

<p>The penalties (and the deeds for which monks are punished) in the Vinaya aren't necessarily the same as the working of kamma -- they're more well-defined (and so easier to list in detail).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-12T05:04:52.170Z
to be honest, I didn't want to tag that topic. I was looking for a tag as Buddhism, but there is no such. Therefore I had to do it. I regret to see Buddhism as "tibetan buddhism/ chinese buddhism" etc. Because Lord Buddha didn't teach two things. As I bellieve and also as it should be there should be only one religion as Buddhism (Shouldn't have categories)
Syrus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-12T07:08:25.613Z
There are other tags you could use, like [tag:sila] or [tag:five-precepts] or [tag:killing]. The tag system isn't very controlled (few rules about which tags to use) -- one other tag with a well-defined meaning is [tag:reference-request].
ChrisW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-12T07:09:04.970Z
People said it's sometimes useful to have school-specific tags -- see for example [Theravada and Mahayana](https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/13/254) and/or [How should we handle the different traditions of Buddhism in our answers?](https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/49/254) -- so you may use that kind of tag in a question; but a lot of questions don't use that kind of tag.
ChrisW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-11T12:17:50.370Z
2018-04-11T12:38:52.260Z
2018-04-11T12:38:52.260Z
ChrisW
<p>Imagine someone perform an action. What are the requirements should be completed for it to be a complete sin?<br>
Explain it by using killing an animal as an exaple</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-11T15:03:32.917Z
What is the definition of sin? Does crime committed against oneself a sin too?
Dheeraj Verma
<karma><lay-buddhism>
What are the requirements in order to happen a complete sin?
# What are the requirements in order to happen a complete sin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-11)

Imagine someone perform an action. What are the requirements should be completed for it to be a complete sin?  
Explain it by using killing an animal as an exaple

**Tags:** karma, lay-buddhism

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What is the definition of sin? Does crime committed against oneself a sin too?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-04-11. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

I don't think it's thoroughly explained in suttas.

I know you tagged this topic [lay-buddhism](/questions/tagged/lay-buddhism "show questions tagged 'lay-buddhism'"), but it might be relevant to mention that the topic is extensively discussed in the Vinaya (the "discipline", the rules for monks).

Pages of 74 through 86 of [The Buddhist Monastic Code](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/bmc1.pdf) says:

> This rule against intentionally causing the death of a human being is best
> understood in terms of five factors, all of which must be present for there to be
> the full offense.
>
> 1. **Object**: a human being, which according to the Vibhaṅga includes human
>    fetuses as well, counting from the time consciousness first arises in the
>    womb immediately after conception up to the time of death.
> 2. **Intention**: knowingly, consciously, deliberately, and purposefully wanting
>    to cause that person’s death. “Knowingly” also includes the factor of—
> 3. **Perception**: perceiving the person as a living being.
> 4. **Effort**: whatever one does with the purpose of causing that person to die.
> 5. **Result**: The life-faculty of the person is cut as the result of one’s act.

It details a number of exceptions: if you kill a person by accident; if you thought they were already dead; or etc.

It also details some non-exceptions, e.g. telling someone else to kill *does* count as "effort".

Perhaps I could mention that *attempted* murder (where the victim doesn't die as a "result") is considered still an offence, and punished ... but with "lesser penalties".

The penalties (and the deeds for which monks are punished) in the Vinaya aren't necessarily the same as the working of kamma -- they're more well-defined (and so easier to list in detail).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: to be honest, I didn't want to tag that topic. I was looking for a tag as Buddhism, but there is no such. Therefore I had to do it. I regret to see Buddhism as "tibetan buddhism/ chinese buddhism" etc. Because Lord Buddha didn't teach two things. As I bellieve and also as it should be there should be only one religion as Buddhism (Shouldn't have categories)  
> **username_2**: There are other tags you could use, like [tag:sila] or [tag:five-precepts] or [tag:killing]. The tag system isn't very controlled (few rules about which tags to use) -- one other tag with a well-defined meaning is [tag:reference-request].  
> **username_2**: People said it's sometimes useful to have school-specific tags -- see for example [Theravada and Mahayana](https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/13/254) and/or [How should we handle the different traditions of Buddhism in our answers?](https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/49/254) -- so you may use that kind of tag in a question; but a lot of questions don't use that kind of tag.  

---

