develop virtue in a buddhist context... The arguments made here are also specifically a modern, Western interpretation of Buddhism which borrows freely from the Theravadan, Mahayana, Tantric and Zen traditions, as do many Western Buddhist teachers and communities. The key ideas presented are consistent with most Buddhist traditions, with minor adjustments of terminology, but I will also attempt to acknowledge where there are relevant significant differences between Buddhist traditions. The cultivation of virtuous thoughts, sentiments and action is central to all Buddhist traditions. But there is a lively ongoing debate about whether the Buddhist emphasis on the importance of cultivating virtue means that Buddhist ethics are a form of virtue ethics. Damien Keown (1992) and James Whitehill (1994) have argued that, among the moral theories of the West, Buddhist ethics most closely resembles Aristotleian virtue ethics. Siderits (2003) and Goodman (2008,2009) have argued, on the other hand, that Buddhist ethics is a form of consequentialism (Siderits, 2003; Goodman, 2008, 2009), since the enlightened being is supposed to have transcended individual identity and be motivated solely by the needs of all sentient beings. In my view the Buddhist tradition embodies both of these forms of ethics in a developmental trajectory of spiritual development. The ethics enjoined for most lay Buddhists in Asian societies, householders who do not have the opportunity to pursue enlightenment, is focused on the cultivation of virtue in order to ensure a good rebirth. The core of lay virtue is the observance of the pancasila or five ethical