A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Friday, November 18, 2022
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
Sensual misconduct is
unhealthy. Refraining from sensual misconduct is healthy. (MN 9)
Abandoning sensual misconduct, one abstains from misbehaving among
sensual pleasures. (MN 41) One practices thus: “Others may engage in
sensual misconduct, but I will abstain from sensual misconduct.” (MN 8)
Reflection
There are so
many ways it is possible to misbehave among sensual pleasures. Anything
that feels good has the power to seduce us, and it does not take much
for us to want more and more of almost anything. It is not that such
pleasures are bad or evil, just that the pursuit of them can expand out
of proportion and distort our behavior. It is empowering to understand
this and temper our relationship to pleasure accordingly.
Daily Practice
Notice when
something feels pleasurable and examine the texture of that sensation
closely. Then let it go, as all transitory episodes of experience will
inevitably cease. It is okay to welcome pleasure into your house as a
guest, so to speak, as long as you also escort it to the door and wave
goodbye when the time comes. It is when we chase after pleasure or
try to hold on to it that we are in danger of misbehaving.
Tomorrow: Developing Unarisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Intoxication
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