three thousand rules of conduct ［三千威儀］ ( sanzen-igi): Also, three thousand rules of behavior. Strict rules of discipline for monks in the Hinayana teachings. Accounts of how to arrive at the figure of three thousand differ. According to one, the figure three thousand is arrived at by applying the two hundred and fifty precepts (the Hinayana rules of discipline for fully ordained monks) to each of the four activities of daily life: walking, standing, sitting, and lying. The resulting one thousand is then multiplied by three for past, present, and future to total three thousand rules of conduct. By another account, the figure three thousand is not to be taken literally, but simply indicates a large number.