It guides the layman to achieve and enjoy material progress in harmony with spiritual satisfaction and upliftment. It guides us to calm our senses, avoid conflict between the mind and the heart, enabling us to get on with our work, duties and responsibilities with peace of mind and joy. The morality as expounded by the Buddha is not difficult to understand or practise during every conscious moment of our life. It does not need to be postponed to the years of retirement or some such period. We should train the young to practise it.
Children are unable to understand theoretically the concepts of morality.
It has to be a part of their informal and formal education given to them by those responsible not only by admonition and precepts, but by the real example set by adults in the eyes of children. These adults in particular are parents and teachers, the clergy and also other adults who necessarily come in contact with children. It is nothing but the Five Precepts which are incorporated in the Noble Eightfold Path in the section of Morality or sila. This section deals with the three aspects of Right Speech, action and livelihood, although the other five aspects have a direct bearing on morality and all the aspects are inter-related. They are Right effort, mindfulness, concentration, understanding and thought.