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)
On tasting a flavor with the tongue, one does not grasp at its signs and
features. Since if one left the tongue faculty unguarded, unwholesome
states of covetousness and grief might intrude, one practices the way of
its restraint, one guards the tongue faculty, one undertakes the
restraint of the tongue faculty. (MN 51)
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The precept
against stealing, phrased here as taking what is not given, protects us
from ethical misconduct and from unhealthy mind states such as greed and
covetousness. On a more subtle level, every time we go beyond the given
data of sense experience we are in a sense taking more than is given,
which can be seen as a form of stealing. It can be challenging to be
with what is without mental proliferation, but it is worthwhile.
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See if you can
train yourself to be aware of the raw texture of sensory input without
looking beyond what is given in experience and trying to take more. The
Buddha often urged his followers, “Train yourself thus: In the tasting
there will only be what is tasted,” nothing added or taken away. This
injunction is also in the mindfulness instruction: “Be just aware, just mindful, that there is flavor, without clinging to anything in the world.”
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Tomorrow: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
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