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)
One of the dangers attached to addiction to intoxicants is liability to sickness. (DN 31)
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Ever practical
and down-to-earth, the Buddha does not moralize about intoxication but
points out its practical dangers. Intoxication is anything that evokes
negligence, and negligence can mean anything that prevents you from
seeing clearly. This is unhealthy, not just in the physical sense but
also in mental and emotional ways. Becoming more sensitized to the
various obstacles to our own diligence is a valuable practice.
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Find something
you tend to get intoxicated by—it need not be alcohol or drugs, but can
be ordinary things like coffee or sugar, the news or other media, or
emotions like sadness, self-pity, or envy—and look more closely at your
relationship to it. In what ways might the negligence and lack of
clarity involved in that intoxication contribute to sickness, whether it
be a physical sickness or a less tangible mental or emotional
affliction?
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Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings
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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.
