RIGHT LIVING
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Intoxication
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Intoxication is unhealthy.
Refraining from intoxication is healthy. (MN 9) What are the
imperfections that defile the mind? Negligence is an imperfection that
defiles the mind. Knowing that negligence is an imperfection that
defiles the mind, a person abandons it. (MN 7) One practices thus:
“Others may become negligent by intoxication, but I will abstain from
the negligence of intoxication.” (MN 8)
There are these two worldly conditions: fame and shame. These are
conditions that people meet—impermanent, transient, and subject to
change. A mindful, wise person knows them and sees that they are subject
to change. Desirable conditions do not excite one’s mind nor is one
resentful of undesirable conditions. (AN 8.6)
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The “worldly
winds” are aspects of life that are as inevitable as the blowing of the
wind, and we are better off accepting and adapting to them rather than
attempting to avoid them. Among these are fame and shame, meaning
sometimes we are a hero and sometimes a chump. In either case, we may
not deserve the label placed on us by others, so the advice here is to
see both fame and shame as the result of changing circumstances and view
them with equanimity.
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One form of
intoxication we are susceptible to is being influenced overmuch by what
other people think of us. If people raise you up unrealistically or put
you down undeservedly, try not to let it sway your own sense of who you
are. As the text says, “A mindful, wise person knows them” to be the
passing opinions of others, subject to capricious change. Practice
remaining balanced, independent of the judgment of others.
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Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings
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