RIGHT LIVING
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
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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)
Sounds cognizable by the ear are of two kinds: those to be cultivated
and those not to be cultivated. Such sounds as cause, in one who
cultivates them, unhealthy states to increase and healthy states to
diminish, such sounds are not to be cultivated. But such sounds as
cause, in one who cultivates them, unhealthy states to diminish and
healthy states to increase, such sounds are to be cultivated. (MN 114)
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Notice that
nothing is being said here about the sound itself; the focus is on the
reaction that hearing the sound has on the person who hears it. Your
mind, along with its accumulated emotional habits, filters whatever
comes in through the senses and gives rise to a range of responses. The
precept concerning sensual indulgence has to do with abstaining from
certain unhealthy responses, not from the objects themselves.
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Practice acting
as a guardian of your sense doors. Like a sentry at the gate, be aware
of what sounds present themselves to pass within and take care to admit
only those that bring out your best. It is okay to filter out words and
other sounds that are disturbing and cause distress. This does not mean
hiding from life’s realities; rather it is about taking some control
over what comes in and then goes on in your mind.
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Tomorrow: Developing Unarisen Healthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Intoxication
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