I keep coming back to a simple question: can the precepts do their work without leaning on rebirth, karma as cosmic bookkeeping, or a fixed self? In the early texts, the Buddha seems to present them as training rules that shape conduct, speech, and attention, and that support concentration and ethical clarity. That seems enough for me.
I’m not asking whether a person can believe in rebirth. I am asking what the precepts are for in daily life: less harm, clearer speech, steadier attention, and a way to notice when a habit is tightening. If they are only rules, do they become rigid? If they are only intentions, do they get too vague?
I’d value replies from people who read them differently: those who see them as dependent on a larger view, those who see them as a practical training, and those who find them difficult in ordinary life. What keeps them alive without turning them into a test?