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 sensed by you, in the
sensed there will be just the sensed." When, firmly mindful, one senses a
sensation, one is not inflamed by lust for sensations; one experiences
the sensation with a dispassionate mind and does not remain holding it
tightly. (SN 35.95)
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The phrase “what is seen, heard, and sensed” is a shorthand way of referring to the first five of the senses, so the word sensed
refers to the sense modalities of smelling, tasting, and touching. It
can be challenging to simply be with what is given in direct experience,
since we are so easily swept beyond what is given to add layers of
judgment and interpretation. Right living involves remaining grounded in
experience.
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When you smell,
taste, or touch an object of any kind at any moment, see if you can
focus just on the sensation, not allowing thoughts to take over and run
rampant. Such proliferation is a way of “taking what is not given,”
insofar as you are going beyond the information provided by the senses
in the immediate experience and turning it into something different.
Practice simply being with what is present—no more, no less.
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Tomorrow: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
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