Precepts & Anapanasati 5: Nourishment And Healing

In this short talk, the last in a series of five, we look at the 5th Precept, "I undertake to abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind," expanded and retitled by Thich Naht Hanh as Nourishment and Healing. As in the other talks, the precept is placed in context of our practice of Anapanasati meditation.

Transcript

The Five Precepts and Anapanasati Meditation Nourishment and Healing Hello everybody.

Today we'll finish our series on the five precepts and anapanasati meditation practice.

As we've said in each of the past meetings,

When we mindfully practice non-attachment to our own patterns of suffering,

As anapanasati meditation leads us to do,

We're helped along our chosen path of precept practice,

Lessening the suffering that we bring to ourselves and to others,

Resolving our own suffering by looking at how we contribute to the suffering of others,

And working to create conditions which allow the awakening of others to grow and flourish.

In Buddhism,

This is at the heart of ethical behavior,

And ethical behavior and mindfulness are closely connected.

A practice of mindfulness helps us to be aware of actions that we know can cause suffering and to refrain from them.

But in order to have this awareness in a meaningful way,

We need to establish mindfulness,

And not just in our meditation,

But in our daily actions.

Thich Nhat Hanh said,

When we are able to come back to our breathing and stop the confused activities of our mind,

We will know intuitively what to do and what not to do.

Now there's a strong link between this idea and our practice of anapanasati contemplations.

We observe our breath and our bodies.

We attune ourselves into calmness and contentment.

We observe our feelings,

Our reactive patterns,

We understand their impermanent nature,

And we allow them to calm,

So that we can begin to see more deeply with clarity and insight.

And we experience the essence of our minds and feel the suffering that is there.

We observe the impermanent nature of our suffering and allow each expression of suffering to calm and to pass.

And we learn to find the space in between our expressions of suffering and to live there in gladness,

With deeper concentration and a growing sense of liberation.

Precept practice is an expression of our buddha nature,

And this springing from our understanding of interdependence and dependent co-arising,

Which we've spoken of before,

And how it leads us not just to live in harmony with others,

But to move with clarity,

To take care of the life around us.

It's a practice which trains us in a spirit of support and love.

We can think of the practice of precepts as a gift that we offer to each person we meet,

Which they receive as a kind of spiritual nourishment.

John Dido Lurie,

Who is the founding abbot of the Mountains and Rivers Order in New York,

Said,

We each have responsibility for the whole catastrophe.

It sits where we each sit,

Walks where we walk.

The hands of compassion get their wisdom and energy from how fully we realize and practice that responsibility.

He goes on,

Precepts are the definition of the life of a Buddha.

They describe the way a Buddha lives his or her life.

Buddha and precepts are not two separate entities.

To practice precepts is to manifest the wisdom and compassion of an enlightened being.

Now the five precepts that we commonly see in the Recovery Dharma book and other places are these,

I undertake to abstain from taking life,

To abstain from taking what is not freely given,

To abstain from sensuous misconduct,

To abstain from false speech,

And to abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind.

Precepts are a commitment to observe consciously chosen patterns of action.

And we need wholesome patterns as a base from which to operate in the changing flow of our lives.

Reb Anderson,

A priest in the Zen tradition in San Francisco,

Said,

The precepts need to be continually maintained because the conditions of our lives are constantly changing,

And the significance of the precepts is different in every situation.

Now as we've been looking at the five precepts in our previous meetings,

We've been looking at them as they've been referenced by Thich Nhat Hanh in the Order of Interbeing.

He's expanded the wording of each of the five precepts and in the process also given them each a title,

If you will.

Looking at them one by one,

I undertake to abstain from taking life.

Thich Nhat Hanh has retitled,

Reverence for Life.

To abstain from taking what is not freely given,

True Happiness.

To abstain from sensuous misconduct,

True Love.

To abstain from false speech,

Deep Listening and Loving Speech.

And to abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind,

Nourishment and Healing.

I'd like to take a look back at the fourth precept which we discussed last time I undertake to abstain from false speech,

Or Deep Listening and Loving Speech.

The precept reads,

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others,

I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people,

Ethnic and religious groups and nations.

Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering,

I am committed to speaking truthfully,

Using words that inspire confidence,

Joy and hope.

When anger is manifesting in me,

I am determined not to speak.

I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger.

I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person.

I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations.

I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord.

I will practice right diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding,

Love,

Joy and inclusiveness and gradually transform the anger,

Violence and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.

This fourth precept,

Or the fourth mindfulness training,

Reminds us that harmonious relationships are based on loving communication.

Now let's read the fifth precept I undertake to abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind,

Or nourishment and healing.

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption,

I am committed to cultivating good health,

Both physically and mentally,

For myself,

My family and my society by practicing mindful eating,

Drinking and consuming.

I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the four kinds of nutriments,

Namely edible foods,

Sense impressions,

Volition and consciousness.

I am determined not to gamble or to use alcohol,

Drugs or any other products which contain toxins such as certain websites,

Electronic games,

Television programs,

Films,

Magazines,

Books and conversations.

I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing,

Healing and nourishing elements in me and around me,

Not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past,

Nor letting anxieties,

Fear or craving pull me out of the present moment.

I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness,

Anxiety or other suffering by losing myself in consumption.

I will contemplate interdependence and consume in a way that preserves peace,

Joy and well-being in my body and consciousness and in the collective body and consciousness of my family,

My society and the earth.

So this is about mindful consumption and health,

But not just in what we may eat or drink.

Again,

Thich Nhat Hanh has expanded the precept as we're used to hearing it,

To abstain from intoxicants and extended it into something much more comprehensive.

In Buddhism,

We talk about four kinds of nutriments that we consume,

Edible food and drink,

But also sense impressions,

Volition or our sense of will and consciousness.

And we're warned against patterns of toxic consumption,

Which lead us into ill-being.

As far as food and drink goes,

There's a blessing that we use at the Zen Center where I practice that I think says a lot.

Innumerable labors brought us this food.

May we know how it comes to us.

Receiving this offering,

Let us consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it.

Desiring the natural order of mind,

Let us be free from greed,

Hate and delusion.

We eat to support life and to practice the way of Buddha.

This food is for the three treasures,

For our teachers,

Family,

All people,

And for all beings in the six worlds.

The first portion is for the precepts.

The second is for the practice of samadhi.

The third is to save all beings.

Thus we eat this food and awaken with everyone.

If we try to approach all kinds of consumption in the same spirit,

We're bound to be better off.

As far as sense impressions go,

These are another thing that we consume every day.

Everything we take in through our eyes,

Our ears,

Our nose,

Our tongue,

Body and mind.

These include advertisements,

Conversations,

Videos,

Text messages.

These make their way into us whether we want them to or not.

In conversation,

Other people may speak of jealousy,

Craving or despair.

While we're listening,

We're consuming.

And without insight and compassion,

These poisons penetrate us.

Volition or our sense of will is the third nutriment.

These are our aspirations,

Our desires and ideas about what we want life to be.

Logically,

Being motivated by compassion and desire to bring less suffering to ourselves and others is healthier and more nourishing.

Nurturing the ideal to live in service to the awakening of others gives us strength to live the precepts in our daily lives,

To examine our intentions and base them in high quality food,

If you will,

To support our spiritual selves.

The fourth nutriment is consciousness itself.

Our consciousness is made of our thoughts and feelings,

The actions of others and the places where we spend our time.

We need to take care,

To make choices about what we surround ourselves with.

A practice of mindfulness can help us to learn how to live our lives in the present moment and to make concentrated efforts to notice when things are wholesome,

When they're skillful and when they're not.

When we're mindful of our reverence for life,

The true happiness of honest and ethical conduct,

The true love with which we protect the physical well-being of others,

The deep listening and loving speech we use to care for the emotional well-being of others,

The nourishment and healing we achieve through mindful consumption so we can bring our best selves to our interactions.

And mindfulness is the key.

So let's go ahead and sit.

Find your comfortable meditation posture,

Remembering that an upright posture leads to an upright mind.

.

Reviews

This final teaching seemed to sum the series up well for me. I will keep this one.
Did I miss it or did you tell us where the expanded TNH versions of the Precepts can be found?
Thank you🙏

This is one I will return to. Thank you for sharing this. 🙏🏻