RIGHT LIVING
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Taking What is Not Given
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Taking what is not given is
unhealthy. Refraining from taking what is not given is healthy. (MN 9)
Abandoning the taking of what is not given, one abstains from taking
what is not given; one does not take by way of theft the wealth and
property of others. (MN 41) One practices thus: "Others may take what is
not given, but I will abstain from taking what is not given." (MN 8)
One is to practice thus: "Here, regarding things seen by you, in the
seen there will be just the seen." When, firmly mindful, one sees a
form, one is not inflamed by lust for forms; one experiences it with a
dispassionate mind and does not remain holding it tightly. (SN 35.95)
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The precept
against stealing is pretty straightforward and obvious, but here a more
subtle aspect of that teaching is being addressed. Beyond the
obvious—taking an object that has not been given—there are ways in which
any object can serve as the launching point of a complex narrative
about ourselves. Objects, such as a casual remark overheard, can be
appropriated by the self and turned into things way beyond what they
actually are.
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When you look
at (or hear or think of) an object, practice seeing it only for what it
is, without attachment and without automatically regarding it in terms
of how it relates to you and what it can do for you, or otherwise
entangling the object with your own sense of self. Instead of allowing
an object to trigger a whole process of "stealing" it for your own
story, practice just letting it be what it is. Bare attention to an
object avoids unnecessary proliferation.
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Tomorrow: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
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